Hong Kong 1995-1997 (blue)

Michio YAMAUCHI

“Close-up images of faces textured by coarse particles and intense contrasts within Michio Yamauchi’s photographs vividly convey the stifling energies of the streetwalkers and the chaos of the city to the audience. His eyes aren’t static - it looks as if the energy of a moment when two walkers collide at the corner of a street has been frozen into a photograph. His images give you a strange feeling and a lack of distance from the object...

...“Hong Kong”, re-edited by taking a fresh look at the negatives taken around twenty years ago, between 1995 and 1997, doesn’t cease to show us that Yamauchi’s method isn’t outdated, not only for himself but also for contemporary photographic expressions. It also eloquently tells us that the established style of photographic expressions practiced in the 80s remains relevant and has the potential to remain so in the future, as does the hard-bop of jazz and the heavy metal of rock music remain contemporary expressions within society today. “The world” which only can be depicted by a style still exists as a reality."

  • Excerpt from The Power of Consistency, essay by photographic historian Ryuichi Kaneko

Yamauchi Michio’s Hong Kong 1995-1997 is visual record which documents both a city and society. Published again by shashasha in 2015, Hong Kong 1995-1997 brings together a new body of images, revisited and once again brought to new audiences within this photobook. Originally published in 1997 by Sokyu-sha, this publication brings together photographs both previously published and unpublished. Within the cloth-bound hardcover, viewers are once again re-introduced to the incredible body of work which documents a city's society caught within a period of transition through the powerful photographic style of Yamauchi Michio.

Included within is an afterword by Yamauchi Michio and essay by Photographic Historian Ryuichi Kaneko titled The Power of Consistency.

Book Size
246 x 326 x 27mm
Pages
198 pages, 103 images
Language
Japanese, English
Binding
Hardcover
Publication Date
2015
Limited Edition
700(red cover:500/blue cover:200)

Artist Profile

Michio YAMAUCHI

Michio Yamauchi was born in 1950 in Aichi Prefecture. He graduated from the Second Literary Department (no longer extant) of Waseda University. In 1980, he started night school at the Tokyo School of Photography (currently Tokyo Visual Arts School). In 1982, he graduated from the Tokyo School of Photography and took part in an independent gallery known as Image Shop CAMP, and began showing photographs in photography magazines and independent galleries. Since 1992, he has shot not only in Tokyo, but also in other major Asian cities including Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dhaka. His solo exhibitions include “Tokyo 1983.2.-1986.2.,” Olympus Gallery (Tokyo, 1986); “TOKYO, Tokyo,” Ginza Nikon Salon (Tokyo, 2002); “CALCUTTA,” Konica Minolta Photo Plaza (Tokyo, 2004); “Tokyo 2009.12.,” Third District Gallery (Tokyo, 2010); “Hong Kong 1995-1997,” ZEN FOTO GALLERY (Tokyo, 2016). His publications include Hito-e (Place M, 1992); Stadt (Sokyusha, 1992); TOKYO 2005-2007 (Sokyusha, 2008); Keelung (grafica, 2010). He is the recipient of the 20th Tadahiko Hayashi Award (for “Keelung,” 2011) and the 35th Domon Ken Award (for “Dhaka 2,” fiscal 2015). His photographs are included in the collections of The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo and Shunan City Museum of Art and History, Yamaguchi.

Gallery Exhibitions