What is ON DAIDO ?

The book ON DAIDO is a photographic anthology of statements and homages to the Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama made by internationally acclaimed photographers and writers. This publication is dedicated to him and will be available in a special edition of 500 copies on the occasion of the 7th Fotobookfestival Kassel in June 2015. FBF Books, the publishing branch of the not-for-profit Fotobookfestival Kassel will publish this book. Your support of this Indiegogo project will make this special publication possible.

Why and How?

Daido Moriyama is undoubtedly one of the most important photographers of all times. But who is this reserved, likeable man from Tokyo, who has affected the development of Japanese photography like no other? Which overwhelming energy is behind this fascinating simplicity in the art of photography? How is it possible that his images, no matter how they are cropped, reproduced, rotated or flipped, still manage to keep their core essence? How does one approach the Daido Moriyama phenomenon? We asked 31 photographers and 21 writers to help us find an answer by way of visual and textual statements. We requested appraisal and acclaim, commentary and feedback. Our request predominantly met with a resoundingly positive response and immediate approval. The resulting anthology ON DAIDO paints a multifaceted picture of the great renewer of photography. Essentially, it does not so much pay homage to an individual, as celebrate the photographic medium as a whole. We are grateful to the photographers and authors for their participation. We wish to carry on spreading and understanding the great work of Daido Moriyama through this anthology. Let's do it together.

The photographers:
Morten Andersen
Nobuyoshi Araki
Jacob Aue Sobol
Machiel Botman
Krass Clement
Antoine D’Agata
JH Engström
Stephen Gill
John Gossage
Todd Hido
Takashi Homma
Osamu Kanemura
Rinko Kawauchi
Keizo Kitajima
Takuma Nakahira
Asako Naharashi
Mika Ninagawa
Katsumi Omori
Koji Onaka
Martin Parr
Anders Petersen
André Principe
Leo Rubinfien
Ken Schles
Joachim Schmid
Oliver Sieber
Alec Soth
Katja Stuke
Aya Takada
Ali Taptik
Terri Weifenbach

Sample spreads:

© Araki

© JH Engström

© Todd Hido

© Jacob Aue Sobol

© Ken Schles

© Alec Soth

© Mika Ninagawa

© Asako Narahashi

The writers:

Dan Abbe - art historian
Gerry Badger - photography critic
Simon Baker - curator of photography and international art at Tate
Ute Eskildsen - curator of photography
Jean-Kenta Gauthier - gallerist
Akira Hasegawa - photo editor
Steven Kasher - gallerist
Clément Kauter - photo book seller
Erik Kessels - art director and publisher
Shino Kuraishi - curator of photography
Freddy Langer - author and journalist
Russet Lederman - Japanese photo book collector
Akio Nagasawa - gallerist and publisher
Sandra S. Phillips - curator of photography at San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art
Andrew Roth - gallerist and publisher
Leo Rubinfien - photographer and essayist
Yoko Sawada - publisher, editor and photographer agent
Minoru Shimusu - art critic
Miwa Susuda - photo book consultant and writer
Mariko Takeuchi - critic, curator and professor

"Daido is one of the supreme masters of stream-of-consciousness photography, where the camera is used as a direct, unfiltered, spontaneous conduit to the photographer's subconscious. His photographs are a visual record of seeing, certainly, but also a reflection of his private thoughts and emotions. That might serve almost as a definition of photography, and Daido defines it as well as most." Gerry Badger

"Daido Moriyama might well be the last great black-and-white photographer of the analogue era, which is coming to an end. He is definitely one of the most radical, and his oeuvre continues to captivate us, as is apparent from this publication."
Ute Eskildsen

"Whether on matted, coated or glossy paper, in heliogravure, offset or photocopy, in a magazine or in a review, inside an attractive binding or on the wall, Daido Moriyama's photography carries out its very own aesthetics."
Clément Kauter

"In his search for the surfaceness of photography, Moriyama radically proved that transcription, repetition, and mass-production are the essence of this medium. For him, it cannot be realism, self-expression, or documentary. In this sense, he is the Warhol of photography."
Mariko Takeuchi

What we Need?

Most of the work has been done! We received powerful contributions from photographers and writers all over the world. They were all very enthusiastic about the project. All we need to do now is to print the book the way we envisage it and make this anthology available to an international audience.

With your help, ON DAIDO will be ready in June 2015 and available by the next, 7th edition of the Fotobookfestival Kassel (June 4th-7th, 2015). Each contribution is vital and will be used for the production of the book anyway!

Who we are?