We Forget Most Every Little Thing

September 27, 2004 10:28 AM

Memories of a Dog. Moriyama Daido's pictures are taken in the streets of Japan's major cities. Made with a small, hand-held camera, they reveal the speed with which they were snapped. Often the frame is tilted vertiginously, the grain pronounced, and the contrast emphasized. Among his city images are those shot in underlit bars, strip clubs, on the streets or in alleyways, with the movement of the subject creating a blurred suggestion of a form (warning: NSFW images if you scroll down the page) rather than a distinct figure. His best known picture, Stray Dog, (1971) is taken on the run, in the midst of bustling street activity. It is an essential reflection of Moriyama's presence as an alert outsider in his own culture. Moriyama is also a toy-camera enthusiast (his favorite is the Polga) . He has worked in the US, too: "N.Y. 71". (more inside)
posted by matteo (6 comments total)

people steadily lose the landscapes they have accumulated. it's not likely that anyone can faithfully recall how scenes appeared ten or twenty years ago... i think people continue to live in the present because we forget most every little thing. the remembrances that sneak up on a tired soul may sometimes stir us, but there is no tomorrow in that... where in the world did the era beyond my memories and the people who lived in it disappear to? after time, which we can actually only see now in historical documents, there are memories we carry. after our time, what memories will be carried forth by the people who follow?

--memories of a stray dog
posted by matteo at 10:31 AM on September 27, 2004

re his New York images:

In 1971, Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama took a trip to New York City with Tadanori Yokoo. He stayed at the Chelsea Hotel and spent his days in The Museum of Modern Art Photography Study Center looking at pictures taken by Weegee. He shot 100 rolls of film with a half-frame camera, yielding 70 images per roll.
posted by matteo at 10:35 AM on September 27, 2004

good links in a Easterwood excellent post
posted by matteo at 11:01 AM on September 27, 2004

Great stuff. I love the starkness of his black and whites, almost chiaroscuro.
posted by Shane at 12:06 PM on September 27, 2004

Choberigu!!
posted by shoepal at 12:32 PM on September 27, 2004

?????? (?)

[this is good; and shoepal is funny :]
posted by gen at 3:11 PM on September 27, 2004