Ken Domon: Faces of Showa through the Lens of a Demon

About the exhibition

The FUJIFILM SQUARE Photo History Museum is pleased to present Ken Domon: Faces of Showa through the Lens of a Demon, a special exhibition of works by photographer Ken Domon, a leading photographer in the Showa period (1926–1989).

Ken Domon (1909–1990) was a prominent photographer during the war years and in the postwar era. In 1935, he joined the Nippon Kōbō studio, led by Yonosuke Natori, where he learnt the techniques of press photography. Domon established himself as a press photographer during the war years. Whereas he participated in state propaganda, he also created many masterpieces as a freelance photographer after the war ended. These include the portraits subsequently collected in the photobook Fūbō (Portraits, 1953) and the photographs of ancient temples and Buddha statues, a project that would become his lifework in later years.
In the 1950s, Domon expressed regret for his complicity with state propaganda. He advocated strongly for the social role of the photographer as someone who looks squarely at the reality of postwar Japanese society and depicts the subject as it is at that moment. To put his ideas into practice, he started taking snapshots, many of which were published. This was the time when he headed up the realism movement in Japanese photography together with Ihei Kimura. He also encouraged amateur photographers with powerful comments on “the direct connection between camera and subject” and “absolute snapshots absolutely unposed.” His guidance, delivered with exceptional charisma and enthusiasm, inspired many photographers, including Kikuji Kawada, Shomei Tomatsu, and Masahisa Fukase and had a profound influence on the future of Japanese photography.

This exhibition displays about twenty-seven posed and candid photographs carefully selected based on a fresh perspective. The focus is on the quarter century from 1935, when Domon made his debut as a press photographer at age twenty-six, to 1959 when he turned fifty. People photography is an eloquent reflection of its time. Regardless of whether his subjects were famous or not, Domon's approach to people was one of keen realism. His photographs of people range from works that appeared in photo magazines and propaganda papers published in Japan and abroad during the war years, to the masterpieces of the 1950s and 60s, when he published Fūbō (Portraits, 1953), Kōtō no kodomo (Children of Kōtō, 1955), Hiroshima (1958), and Chikuhō no kodomotachi (Children of Chikuhō, 1960). Captured with defiant enthusiasm and visual purity, Domon's photographs of people reflect society at the time, yet, they continue to fascinate us even today.

Ken Domon, the demon photographer, captured numerous posed and candid photographs over a quarter century during the Showa period. The photographs reveal a consistent and unflinching perspective and the gaze of the human being we know as Ken Domon.