Akihide Tamura TAMURA Photographs

This is a collection of Akihide Tamura's early works. It is centered around two series: "Houses," which he began photographing in 1967, and "Roads," which he began working on in 1976.

"House" captures the process of houses emerging on reclaimed land through fixed-point observation over a period of approximately two years. "Road" is a five-year documentary that follows the clearing of suburban hills until the completion of the Yokohama-Yokosuka Road. The act of standing in the same place goes beyond simply recording change; it has become the prototype of photography, which visualizes time itself. By incorporating random elements such as violent lightning strikes and falling snow into the frame, the landscape takes on new appearances amidst the repetition.

In 1984, he won the Newcomer Award from the Photographic Society of Japan for this work. His work has also been included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and has received international acclaim. Included in "The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990." The design was created by Tadashi Machiguchi, father of Satoru Machiguchi of Match & Company. Limited to 500 copies.

[Title] TAMURA Photographs
[Publisher] Le Mars
[Date of publication] 1983
[Number of pages] Unpaginated, 24 plates
[Size] Approx. 266*311mm, 800g
[Format] Hardcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] Tamura Photographs
[Author/editor, etc.] Akihide Tamura/Author, Tadashi Machiguchi/Design
[printing]
[ISBN]
[Condition] Used, signed [5] Average (fading on three sides, stains)
[Accessories] Separate chronology booklet (1 sheet)
[Featured book] The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990
[Related Exhibitions]

Akihide Tamura (1947–)

Born in Tokyo in 1947. His real name is Shigeru Tamura.
He graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1967 and from the Graduate School in 1969. While still a student, his talent was highly praised by the school's principal and photography critic, Shigemori Koen.

In 1969, he held his first solo exhibition, "Light of Dreams," at the Ginza Nikon Salon (originally under the name Shigeru Tamura). He attracted attention with his "BASE" series, which featured photographs of U.S. military bases from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. In 1974, he exhibited his work in the "New Japanese Photography" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and his fixed-point observation of "House" was recommended by photography director John Szarkowski and added to the museum's collection. Since then, many of his works have been collected by art museums both in Japan and abroad.

He published the photo book "TAMURA Photographs" in 1983 and won the Newcomer's Award from the Photographic Society of Japan the following year in 1984. In the 1980s and 1990s, he energetically produced works that focused on the transformation of urban landscapes, and led the way in contemporary Japanese photography. He also took stills on set for film director Akira Kurosawa's "Kagemusha," "Ran," "Dreams," and "Rhapsody in August." As an educator, he taught for many years at Tokyo College of Photography, Tokyo Zokei University, and other institutions.

His major publications include "TAMURA Photographs" (1983), "Base" (1992), and "Kurosawa Akira" (1991).

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