Yasuhiro Ishimoto - Metropolis - 1971

Metropolis

Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Chuo Koronsha/1971/Japanese/265*220*15

“Metropolis,” a photo book by Yasuhiro Ishimoto, a photographer for whom Japan is proud on the world stage. It is said that the renowned American photographer Minor White, upon seeing Ishimoto’s work, remarked that it “blends the characteristics of Japan, the United States, and Germany.” Born in San Francisco, raised in Tosa, Japan, and trained in photography under Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at the New Bauhaus in Chicago—which drew on the traditions of Germany’s Bauhaus—Yasuhiro Ishimoto developed a style rooted in the New Bauhaus philosophy of “viewing subjects without being bound by preconceived notions.” This distinctive style is fully on display in *Metropolis*, the eighth volume in his *Contemporary Images* series. This book features photographs taken primarily in Tokyo and along the Shonan coast—where he lived—between 1962 and 1971. While differing from the flawless, impeccable style seen in works such as *One Day, Somewhere* and *Chicago, Chicago*, it offers a glimpse into another charming facet of Yasuhiro Ishimoto’s work, one brimming with a moderate sense of playfulness.