Japanese photographs from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Scenes, signs, sensations
When: 29.09.2026 11:00
Where: 48.833943, 2.377558
Organizer: Admin
Exhibition in brief
Since the late 1960s the Bibliothèque nationale de France has established itself as one of the first Western institutions to take an interest in modern and contemporary Japanese photography. Already possessing a remarkable collection of Japanese prints from the 17th–19th centuries, it gradually built an exceptional photo collection.
Housed in the Department of Prints and Photography, this collection comprises about 4,000 prints created by roughly 200 artists and photojournalists, as well as a hundred magazines and landmark publications tracing the history of Japanese photography since 1945. This assemblage, one of the largest in the Western world, was formed with the help of Japanese photographers who moved to France in the second half of the 20th century and became ambassadors of the extraordinary creative ferment of their archipelago.
This large‑scale exhibition brings together around a hundred artists: creators already widely recognized on the international stage, as well as other figures whose approaches and styles merit discovery.
The uniqueness of the Japanese photo collection at BnF also lies in its major thematic and aesthetic currents that run through it. Sometimes it is rooted in reality through reportage devoted to rural life, festivals, rituals or urban and economic expansion; other times it is theatrical, fantastical or poetic—Japanese photography places special emphasis on sensations and atmospheres. This is manifested in works that combine a wonderful compositional simplicity with a high refinement of the print.
Before Reality
Reportage photography and its realism occupy a dominant place in post‑war production, as evidenced by the reportage of Hiroshi Hamaya, the series of Hiromi Tsuchida, and the work of Yoko Yamamoto, which contribute to building a common national foundation where resilience after nuclear trauma, interest in ancient customs, and a drive toward modernity intertwine.
Strange Everyday
More intimate works, in particular the signatures of authors of the Konpora Shashin movement such as Shigeo Gochō or Tokko Ushiōda, created moments of ordinary experience in the 1960s–1980s. Through composition, framing, or unexpected encounters, the everyday acquires a shade of strangeness.
Bodies in Staging
Theatrical installations by Shoji Ueda, Eiko Hosoe and his students, as well as Yuki Onodera and Mami Kiyoshi, reveal the influence of the highly visual world of Japan’s traditional performing arts. This section gathers numerous studies and photographic experiments around the theme of bodies.
Hello, Paris!
Many Japanese photographers represented in the BnF collection turned their gaze toward Paris, such as Ihei Kimura, Yoshi Takada, Keiichi Tahara, Mamoru Sakamo and Jun Shirakawa, who came to work or even live in the French capital. These perspectives, oscillating between curiosity and fantasy, the search for archetypes and familiar references, the desire to capture something special and a rejection of any exoticism, reflect fruitful exchanges between the two cultures.
Calligraphies of the World
The human figure yields to a realm of forms, under the influence of Eastern calligraphic art and minimalism, uniting, as seen in Shohei Tomatsu, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Takehiko Nakafudji and even Sayuri Ichida, a quest for purity and the perfection of contrasting effects.
Sensual and Intangible
This section unveils a world of sensations and atmospheres, from the bleak landscapes of Hiroto Fujimoto and Kazuo Ameii to portraits of elements captured by Koichiro Kurita and Sayuki Inoue (wind and water). The search for sensual abstraction, based on an artistic approach to nature often imbued with Zen Buddhism, manifests in the materiality of prints and publications, between velvety nuances and the celebration of shadow.
Tags: photo exhibition, modern art, japan, photography
Source: https://www.paris.fr/evenements/photographies-japonaises-de-la-bibliotheque-nationale-de-france-scenes-signes-sensations-116768
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