Vincent Borrelli, Bookseller

The Japanese Box, Limited Edition [Shashin yo sayonara SIGNED by MORIYAMA]

SCHIFFERLI, Christoph (Editor), MORIYAMA, Daido, ARAKI, Nobuyoshi, NAKAHIRA, Takuma, YASUMI, Akihito, et al.

Publisher: Göttingen, Germany: Steidl Verlag, in association with Edition 7L, 2001
Edition: 1st Edition
Binding: Soft cover
ISBN: 3882433019
Condition: As New / As New
Item #: 101395

$1,950.00

Specifics

First edition, first and only printing. "Shashin yo sayonara" is signed (in kanji and English) in black marker on the first page by Moriyama. Limited edition of 1500 hand-numbered copies (this being #14/1500; edition number noted on bookplate pasted to inside of box lid). Soft cover (all volumes). A collection of six facsimile reprints and an editor's book (all in stiff wrappers), contained in a custom-designed black lacquered wooden box with metal latches (the set of books is wrapped in fine black Japanese paper and bound by 2 wide rubber bands with the title printed). Edited by Christoph Schifferli. Essay (in English and Japanese) by Akihito Yasumi. Designed by Gerhard Steidl and Karl Lagerfeld. Total 892 pp., with 763 black and white reproductions (all six volumes). The box is 10-1/4 (width) x 13 (length) x 4 (height) inches. Out of print (sold out shortly after release). Very scarce.

The Japanese Box contains the following collection of 6 facsimile reprints, along with an editor's book that includes translations of the texts:

1) Provoke #1: 68 pp., with 48 black and white reproductions;

2) Provoke #2: 108 pp., with 54 black and white reproductions;

3) Provoke #3: 110 pp., with 55 black and white reproductions;

4) Nobuyoshi Araki: Sentimental Journey: 106 pp., with 106 black and white reproductions;

5) Daido Moriyama: Shashin yo sayonara (Bye, bye photography, dear / Farewell photography): 308 pp., with 308 black and white reproductions. This title is signed in English and kanji in black ink inside the front cover by Moriyama; and

6) Takuma Nakahira: For a Language to Come: 192 pp., with 192 black and white reproductions.

Condition

As New, opened for inspection (slight rubbing to the Nakahira dust jacket, endemic to the edition, due to shifting in transit).

Description

From Nobuyoshi Araki: "I was jealous of Provoke, especially Moriyama's nudes in the second issue. (...) I wanted to join them but I wasn't allowed (...) So I worked alone."

From the publisher: "In 1968, a magazine with the programmatic title "Provoke" was published in Tokyo by the photographer and writer Takuma Nakahira, the art critic Koji Taki, and other members. Investigating the relationship between photography and text, and suggesting new ways for photography to depict Japanese society, the magazine was an artistic and philosophical manifesto, responding to the upheavals of the late sixties. The participating photographers, among them Daido Moriyama (who joined "Provoke" with the second issue) searched for a radically new photographic language, as is reflected in the titles of their books: titles like Moriyama's "Bye, Bye Photography," and Nakahira's "For a Language to Come"; publications that were turning points in postwar Japanese photography.

This spectacular limited edition collection of facsimile reprints of six legendary Japanese photography publications from the 1960s and 1970s will undoubtedly be a highly sought-after collector's item. Included are the first three issues of "Provoke" and three books that were inspired by it. Originally published in extremely limited editions ("Provoke" had a print run of 1,000 copies), these publications are very rare today and almost impossible to find. Among the photographers included are Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Takuma Nakahira, Yutaka Takanashi, and Koji Taki. This set comes in a black wooden collector's box, with an editor's book that includes translations of the texts. A must-have for photography lovers."