Ichirō Kojima Photo Book...
Ichirō Kojima Photo Book...
This month I picked up a photo book from one of my favorite Japanese photographers... "小島一郎写真集成" by 青森県立美術館 ("Ichirō Kojima Photo Collection" by Aomori Museum of Art) - 2009.
Kojima (1924~1964) was from Aomori Prefecture... served in China during World War II, returning to Aomori in 1946 where he helped out in the family photographic equipment business and participated in an amateur photography group (Hokuyoukai). His short, 10 year span of activity until his death in 1964 at the age of 40 produced (IMHO) some excellent work.
Kojima's images emphasize the bitterly cold climate of the Tsugaru and Shimokita regions of Aomori Prefecture. He was known for the dark forbidding skies of his print work. The below images are from the book © Ichirō Kojima, not the best of, rather a couple that I liked on first review.
01) Book Cover
02) つがる市木造 1957-58 / Tsugaru City Kizukuri (town)
03) 津軽地万 1957-58 / Tsugaru 地万 ('Jiman' / '-chi man')
04) 西津軽郡深浦町北金ヶ沢 1957-58 / Kita-Kanegasawa, Fukaura-chō, Nishi tsugaru-gun
05) むつ市脇野沢九艘泊 1961 / Kusōdomari, Wakinosawa, Mutsu City
The hard cover book has 185 photographs (locations & dates are noted), plus a 30 page biography with personal / family photos and a photo-shoot location map from Aomori Prefecture. Most photos are b&w although there is a smattering of colour prints... I like the winter images. One review noted that although the book is oversized, some of the prints are postcard sized... not an issue in my opinion. All text is Japanese.
Casey
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