Bouncing with ChatGPT | Reading Chapter 2 "Shomei Tomatsu and Daido Moriyama" from "Genealogy of Contemporary Photography: Tracing the Voices of Photographers"
Reading Notes: Chapter 2 "Shomei Tomatsu and Daido Moriyama"
I. Organizing the Issues
1. Shomei Tomatsu and the Transformation of Photojournalism: The Natori-Tomatsu Debate
A major theme in the Japanese photography world of the 1960s was the question: **"What is photojournalism?"**
A fierce debate unfolded between Yonosuke Natori (a pioneer of Japanese photojournalism) and Shomei Tomatsu (a young photographer exploring photographic expression beyond existing frameworks) over whether "photography should only convey 'facts' or should it include 'the artist's expression'?"
This Natori-Tomatsu debate can be seen as a generational shift in values regarding the role of photojournalism.
• Natori valued "accurate recording of facts" and "objective reporting," while
• Tomatsu advocated for photography as "subjective interpretation" and "expression that conveys the atmosphere of the times and society."
2. The Substance of the Natori-Tomatsu Debate
This debate also involved the perspective of photography critic Tsutomu Watanabe and unfolded from multiple angles.
• While Watanabe suggested that "there is room for compromise between the two,"
• Natori remained unyielding, stating that "a photojournalist is a 'witness' to society, and artistic individuality is actually a hindrance," and
• Tomatsu countered that "a photographer is not only a witness to the times but also an artist who projects their own thoughts and sensibilities."
Through these discussions, Tomatsu reinterpreted "photojournalism" in a broader sense, aiming for photography that captures not only social facts but also the "atmosphere of the times" and "unconscious vibes."
3. The Emergence of Daido Moriyama and the Development of "Non-Photojournalism"
In the late 1960s, influenced by William Klein and Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama moved toward "non-photojournalism"—a new view of photography distinct from existing journalism.
• Moriyama believed that "photography is not a reproduction or record of reality, but an act of subjectively cutting out 'fragments of reality.'"
• Overseas photo essays such as those in LIFE magazine and Robert Frank's "The Americans" also had a strong influence.
4. The Question of "Grouped Photos" (Kumishashin) and "Massed Photos" (Gunshashin)
• The Natori-style "grouped photos" (kumishashin) is a method of constructing "facts" through multiple photos with an editorial narrative.
• The Tomatsu-style "massed photos" (gunshashin) prioritizes the "atmosphere" or "multiple perspectives" created by a "collection of juxtaposed photos" rather than narrative.
• This difference symbolizes the shift of photography from a "medium that tells a story" to a "medium that experiences the world."
5. Tomatsu and Moriyama, Thereafter
• Tomatsu moved toward highly abstract works such as "For the Coming Words."
• Moriyama continued to capture the messy and uncertain reality through "snapshots," such as in "Nippon Gekijo" (Japan: A Photo Theater).
• Moriyama, who is committed to the "snapshot," also had his own unique view on the relationship between photography and words (text), stating that "photography is something that always captures the outside of 'reality.'"
⸻
II. Glossary
• Photojournalism
Photography that conveys social reality, events, and phenomena as a "record." Yonosuke Natori held a fact-oriented position.
• Natori-Tomatsu Debate
A clash of generations and ideologies over photojournalism. The conflict between recordability (Natori) vs. expressiveness (Tomatsu).
• Shomei Tomatsu
Born in 1930. An artist who sought to capture the "atmosphere of reality" with themes of Japan's "memories" in places like Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
• Daido Moriyama
Born in 1938. Under the influence of William Klein, he frequently used avant-garde techniques such as "blur, out-of-focus, and graininess" to embody the "uncertainty of the city."
• Non-Photojournalism
Photography based on individual perspectives, subjectivity, and experimental techniques that are not subsumed by news or documentary qualities.
• Grouped Photos / Massed Photos
Grouped photos are editorial types conscious of a story; massed photos are the presentation of atmosphere and worldview through parallel collections.
• Snapshot
Photos taken instantaneously in the city. Moriyama's "snapshots" are a celebration of "unconsciousness and contingency."
⸻
III. Critical Analysis
1. The Philosophical Transformation of "Photojournalism"
Natori's "objective reporting" doctrine originated from the philosophy of modern realism (facts and objectivity), but since Tomatsu, there has been an awareness of capturing even invisible things like the multi-layered nature of reality and "atmosphere."
This shakes the traditional Cartesian dualism of "photography = mirror of reality" and emphasizes a media-theoretical and semiotic perspective that photography is a medium that constantly wavers between "fact" and "interpretation."
2. "Authorship" and Media Theory
What Tomatsu and Moriyama aimed for was photography that also reveals the photographer's "individuality" and "subconscious sensations."
This also connects to the "traceability and materiality of photography" and the "perversion of seeing and being seen" discussed by Barthes, Benjamin, Batchen, and others, and was a shift from the public duty of "photojournalism = witness to society" to a new horizon of "photographer = mediator of the times and self-expresser."
3. Reconsidering "Snapshots" and RealismThe "snapshot" doctrine that Daido Moriyama thoroughly pursued is one where "reality = drawing in fragments of reality as coincidence," which also overlaps with modern American philosophy (pragmatism and phenomenology).
**Photography is not "manipulated reality" but a "coincidental cutting out of fluid reality,"** and it is a modern realist philosophy that "reality is not 'absolute' in the first place, but relative and fluid."
4. Auteurism, Words, and Photography
Mr. Marui's narrative, like Domon and Ueda, places emphasis on the "photographer's intention" and "personal history," but Tomatsu and Moriyama focus more on "photography itself as a medium that precedes words" and the "gap/margin between photography and words."Here, the essence of "photography = a medium with unstable meaning," as discussed in contemporary media theory (Harold Innis, Batchen, etc.), is demonstrated.
⸻
Summary
• The Natori-Tomatsu debate was a turning point for the question, "Is photography fact, or is photography expression?"
• Since Tomatsu and Moriyama, photography shifted to "self-expression" that also captures "individual unconsciousness and the atmosphere of society."
• From "grouped photos" to "massed photos," and to the "philosophy of coincidence" that is the snapshot, the view of photography has been greatly expanded.
• Contemporary photography is an open medium that lives in the gap between "reality and fiction," "record and interpretation," and "words and images."
⸻
#ShomeiTomatsu #DaidoMoriyama #YonosukeNatori #Photojournalism #NatoriTomatsuDebate #GroupedPhotos #MassedPhotos #Snapshot #ContemporaryPhotography #PhotographyTheory #NonPhotojournalism #PhotographicExpression #PhotoEssay #PhotographyAndReality #SubjectivityAndObjectivity #Realism #PhotographerIndividuality #PhotographyAndWords #1960sPhotography #JapanesePhotographyHistory