My photography practice has 2 great influences; Minor White and the School of Equivalence from mid- 20th century America and photography as practiced by photographers in Japan especially in the middle of the last century. My first contact with the art from Japan was the work by Masahisa Fukase, The Solitude Of Ravens. I saw this work when I was a photo editor at Natural History magazine back in the 90’s. It was a magical and melancholy series which I instantly fell in love with. I then eventually appreciated the work of Moriyama and the Provoke group, Tomatsu Shomei and many, many others.

The one great photographer I overlooked and only discovered about 5 or 6 years ago was Issei Suda. HIs images of everyday life and festivals were magical. Sadly, I learned this morning that Suda Issei has passed away. From Shashasha:

Issei Suda, the great Japanese photographer, has passed away on March 7, 2019, at age 78. Issei Suda first became known as the photographer for Shuji Terayama’s experimental theater group “Tenjo Sajiki”. Beginning with “Fushi-Kaden” in 1978, Suda published countless critically acclaimed (books) over the many decades of his career.

Although he was best known for his black and white work, my favorite book of his, which I only recently acquired, is a book of color photographs called, Fragments Of Everyday Life. The images that appear on this post is from that book.

Rest in peace.