Takuma Nakahira: Return to the Basics - Yokohama Degree Zero-YOKOHAMA

This exhibition catalog was published in conjunction with the exhibition "Return to the Roots - Yokohama," which surveys the work of photographer Takuma Nakahira.

This exhibition, named by Nakahira himself, who returned to photography after moving to Yokohama as his base, was an attempt to present his "return" as a photographer and his ongoing practice that continues since then.

"Photography is neither creation nor memory, but a document" - as symbolized by these words of Takuma Nakahira, this catalogue consistently records his approach to thoroughly thinking about and radically practicing the medium of photography.

This exhibition features 110 works selected from a span of approximately 40 years of his career, from his early works in the mid-1960s, the period of "For the Word to Come," his 1971 Paris shoot, and his color works up until the 2000s.

In 1977, Nakahira collapsed in the middle of production and lost part of his memory, but after moving to Yokohama he resumed filming the following year.
Yokohama is the "origin" of his rebirth as a photographer, and it is still the place he photographs most frequently on a daily basis. This exhibition and catalogue visualizes the process of his recovery and the continuous time leading up to the present.

In addition to the illustrations, the book contains essays by Kuraishi Shinobu, Yakaku Satoshi, Moriyama Daido, Nakagawa Michio, and Homma Takashi. It also includes a chronology of Nakahira Takuma, and a bibliography of his exhibitions and literature, making it a valuable resource both critically and informatively.

This exhibition catalogue aims to reexamine Takuma Nakahira not as a legendary image, but as a series of practices.

[Title] Return to the Origin - Yokohama Degree Zero-YOKOHAMA
[Publisher] Osiris
[Date of publication] February 20, 2004 (2nd printing)
[Number of pages] 192 pages
[Size] Approx. 257*183*14mm, 0.57kg
[Format] Softcover
[Title reading] Genten Fukuki Yokohama
[Authors/Editors] Takuma Nakahira/Author, Yokohama Museum of Art Curatorial Department/Planning and editing assistance, Kazunari Hattori/Design
[Printing] Dai Nippon Printing
[ISBN] 4990123913
[Condition] Used [5] Average (spine discoloration, slight scratches on the edges)
[Accessories] None
[Featured books]
[Related Exhibition] October 2003, Yokohama Museum of Art

Takuma Nakahira (1938-2015)

Born in Tokyo in 1938. Photographer and critic.
Since the late 1960s, he has engaged in activities that fundamentally question the relationship between photographic expression and language, exerting a decisive influence on the history of postwar photography in Japan. In 1969, together with Daido Moriyama and others, he founded the photography fanzine Provoke: Provocative Materials for Thought. Based on the concept of "provocative photography," he criticized existing realism and symbolized expression through rough, blurred images.

In 1970, he published the photo collection For the Words to Come, showcasing his thinking and practice that explored the issues of photography, language, and recognition to their limits. Later, in 1977, he suffered memory loss in an accident, which prompted him to take a turn that seemed to self-negate his previous style of expression, and thereafter he focused his photography solely on "documentation." His approach of repeatedly photographing everyday objects is being reassessed as an attempt to reexamine the origins of photography.

His photo books include "For the Words to Come," "Why a Botanical Encyclopedia?" and "Circulation: Dates, Places, Actions." His collections of criticism include "Language and Things." He passed away in 2015.

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