Moriyama – Tomatsu
Tokyo
The MEP presents Moriyama – Tomatsu: Tokyo, a historic exhibition of two masters of Japanese photography.
“What was once called a thing is now a photograph. Reality is not reproduced, but revived as a fiction on film or paper.”
– Shomei Tomatsu
The exhibition
Catalogue
Daido Moriyama / Shomei Tomatsu
Conceived originally by Moriyama and Tomatsu themselves, this collaborative exhibition remained unrealised during the lifetime of Shomei Tomatsu, who sadly passed away in 2012. The MEP is honoured to have the opportunity to stage this historic exhibition which was the dream of two great photographers and friends. Through a major overview of the works of both Moriyama and Tomatsu, Moriyama – Tomatsu: Tokyo highlights a shared fascination with the Japanese capital that both artists spent decades exploring.
Curated in close collaboration with Daido Moriyama and Tomatsu’s widow and collaborator, Yasuko Tomatsu, the exhibition is drawn from the two artists’ initial list of works – enriched and adapted for the occasion – in a comprehensive and coherent journey through their lives and work. Each photographer will occupy one floor of the MEP’s main galleries, and although each presentation is essentially chronological, the first part, dedicated to Tomatsu, will offer a more classical contrast to the denser, more intense scenography of the installation proposed by Moriyama.
