Successful Opening – 2013 Daido Moriyama: Memories of Stray Dogs Solo Photography Exhibition
2013 Moriyama Daido-Memories of a stray dog Solo Exhibition
Exhibition period November 08, 2013 – December 07, 2013
Yi’s Furniture & Projects Consulting Co. Ltd | 22,Lane 252, Sec. 1, Tun Hua S. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: (02) 2781-3131 E-mail: info6@yi8c.com
Media liaison : Anne Sung , Leo Kao
Follow for the Latest Exhibition Updates：2013 【森山大道-野犬記憶】個人攝影展 粉絲專頁
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2013 Daido Moriyama – Memories of Stray Dogs: Solo Photography Exhibition
Rebellious Stray Dogs, Unflinching in the Glow of Urban Life
Daido Moriyama, a master of contemporary photography, dissects the authentic textures of city life.
Daido Moriyama (Moriyama Daido) is renowned for his street photography that captures raw, unfiltered reality. His work has been widely recognized by art enthusiasts, professionals, and international award committees. Moriyama once stated, “My world exists for photography.” Over a creative career spanning more than forty years, he has maintained unparalleled dedication, employing deeply considered artistic methods to chronicle his life through street photography.
Daido Moriyama – Memories of Stray Dogs: Solo Photography Exhibition
Comprehensive Works, Diverse Mediums
Moriyama’s artistic journey began in 1958 and matured in 1968. In 1971, while photographing in Aomori Prefecture, a dog crossed his path with a proud, defiant gaze. This encounter profoundly impacted Moriyama, and the moment he captured the dog on film, it became inseparable from his artistic spirit. Through Moriyama’s lens, this image has moved countless viewers. Whenever people mention Moriyama, his iconic photograph Dog inevitably comes to mind. From that point onward, Moriyama described himself as a stray dog, roaming streets with a defiant yet composed perspective, documenting cities, events, and human nature with unflinching honesty, leaving an enduring record of the stray dog’s memory.
This fall, Taipei hosts Daido Moriyama – Memories of Stray Dogs, featuring not only his seminal works but also marking Taiwan’s first exhibition presenting Moriyama’s photography on canvas. Among the canvas pieces, iconic works such as Rolling Stones and Hawaii Dog are exhibited as singular global examples.
The exhibition also presents Moriyama’s early works in traditional silver gelatin prints, including four series: the 1968 Provoke Series, the 1971 New York Series, and the 1987 Tights Series and Tiles Series.
Moriyama’s oeuvre spans a wide range of subjects, showcasing strong originality, emotive power, and scholarly value. Previous exhibitions in Taiwan have displayed his works in a fragmented manner, making this collaboration with the Daido Moriyama Foundation at Yi Ya Ju a unique and prestigious opportunity.
Akio Nagasawa, Executive Director of the Moriyama Daido Foundation, notes that Yi Ya Ju’s exhibition space is perfectly suited for presenting Moriyama’s early works, stimulating viewers’ creative imagination. Taiwanese audiences are encouraged not to miss this exceptional opportunity to explore the master’s creative journey and experience his works in diverse mediums.
Daido Moriyama – A Contemporary Photographer Who Identifies as a Stray Dog
Moriyama has humorously described his street photography stance: “I am like a dog, taking photographs on the streets as if relieving myself.” Though lighthearted, this remark reveals Moriyama’s incisive, rebellious, and independent worldview.
His signature photobook Memories of Dogs exemplifies this perspective. Created between 1984 and 1997, the work compiles over a decade of life experience, inspiration, and travels. In these images, Moriyama consistently observes the city with a detached, stray-dog-like gaze—studying urban textures, the subtle context of events, and the expressions, gestures, and motivations of his subjects. This “stray dog mentality” persists throughout his career, remaining central to his artistic philosophy.
Art as Continuous Self-Exploration and Discipline
Moriyama is best known for the Rough, Shake, No Focus style, characterized by grainy, blurred, and out-of-focus imagery. This approach emerged not by choice but through necessity: early in his career, subjects often resisted photography, sometimes destroying negatives. These challenging experiences honed his ability to convey energy and movement, using development techniques to adjust exposure, contrast, and grain, capturing the “moment” and its authenticity.
Moriyama continues to favor compact cameras, avoiding DSLRs. He explains: “With an SLR, you worry about focus and composition, and by the time you press the shutter, you may have missed the moment. A compact camera lets you shoot instinctively. On Shinjuku streets, people rarely notice a compact camera, allowing for more candid capture.”
Through self-exploration, reading, and literary inspiration, Moriyama evolved from impromptu street photography to examining the intricate relationships between people, streets, and cities. Each street, path, and city possesses a unique character, which Moriyama captures with unrelenting dedication. His international exhibitions span London, Paris, New York, Taipei, and beyond. Simultaneously, he maintains a personal diary-like approach to photography, chronicling his impressions of cities—many of which are included in his ongoing photobook series Records, with works featured in this exhibition.
Life and Early Influences of Daido Moriyama
Moriyama was born in Osaka in 1938, growing up amid the postwar reconstruction of Osaka and Tokyo—materially scarce yet culturally vibrant environments. At twenty, he first encountered William Klein’s New York, profoundly influencing him with its raw immediacy and visual energy, inspiring his lifelong pursuit of photography.
In 1959, Moriyama became an assistant to renowned photographer Takeji Iwamiya. In 1961, he sought out the photographic collective “VIVO” in Tokyo, which had already disbanded. With encouragement from Eikoh Hosoe, Moriyama became Hosoe’s assistant, marking a formative step in his development.
By 1964, Moriyama worked as a freelance photographer, frequently shooting around U.S. military bases in Yokosuka. There he met Takuma Nakahira, whose unconventional style became a lifelong source of artistic camaraderie.
The Breakthrough – 1968 and Provoke
In 1968, Moriyama joined the avant-garde photography group Provoke, founded by Koji Taki, Takuma Nakahira, and Yutaka Takanashi. The group rejected conventional beauty in photography, aiming instead to provide raw material for critical thought. Moriyama’s explosive, grainy, and unflinchingly real images challenged the Japanese photography establishment, firmly establishing his artistic identity.
In the same year, he published On the Road, revealing his profound attachment to urban life. From that moment, his gaze remained inseparable from cities, streets, and alleyways—a practice he continues more than forty years later, recording the traces of people, events, and objects.
Global Recognition in the 1970s
In 1971, Moriyama traveled to New York with Japanese illustrator Tadanori Yokoo, experiencing firsthand the city that had inspired his lifelong pursuit of photography. Exposure to Bruce Davidson, Andy Warhol, and the city’s vibrant energy expanded his creative vision.
By 1974, his photobook New York: Another Country was published, followed by a traveling exhibition of Japanese contemporary photographers across the U.S. and Canada, including MoMA, St. Louis Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Krannert Art Museum, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. This exhibition confirmed the international significance of contemporary Japanese photography.
Following global recognition, Moriyama received invitations from museums in London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Washington, and Germany and Austria, continuing to exhibit both solo and in group shows. His work spans Europe, North America, and Asia, consistently offering insightful, humanistic documentation of urban life.
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Exhibition period | November 08, 2013 – December 07, 2013
Nov. 08, 2013 Yi&C Contemporary Art Opening
Media and VIP Opening | 11:00-12:30 Yi&C
Opening Reception | 16:30-20:00 Yi&C
Yi’s Furniture & Projects Consulting Co. Ltd | 22,Lane 252, Sec. 1, Tun Hua S. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: (02) 2781-3131 E-mail: info6@yi8c.com
Media liaison : Anne Sung , Leo Kao
Follow for the Latest Exhibition Updates：2013 【森山大道-野犬記憶】個人攝影展 粉絲專頁