Raika Dōmei

Raika Dōmei (ライカ同盟, meaning "Leica Alliance") is a group of three Japanese photographers and their associates who worked together on exhibitions and books from 1992 until 2009 or a little later.[n 1]

History and concept

In 1992, the artist, novelist and old-camera enthusiast Genpei Akasegawa, the artist Yūtokutaishi Akiyama, and the photographer Yutaka Takanashi met at the opening party of an exhibition by the singer Anri Sugano (アンリ菅野) and found that they had happened to bring along a Leica M3, M2 and M4 respectively.[1] They found that they shared an enjoyment of mechanical cameras and also enjoyed walking around the streets taking photographs together.[2] From that time until 2009 or thereabouts they walked around Nagoya, Hakata, Paris, Mie, and Tokyo; and exhibited and published the results.

Planned in early 2009 were photographs of Kurashiki (Okayama).[3]

The three said that they hoped their photography would preserve the individuality of the photographer, and that it would appeal not just to enthusiasts of Leica and other mechanical cameras but rather to all.[4]

Akasegawa published an essay, "Raika Dōmei", about the group.

The three had no rigid allegiance to the Leica brand, or even avoidance of electronics: each photograph in the book Tokyo Kaleidoscope, for example, is annotated with a mention of the camera and lens used; the photographs by Akasegawa use a variety of cameras (including the Contax G2), and many of those by Takanashi use a Hexar RF.

Exhibitions

All the exhibitions listed here were by the three photographers as a group.

Akasegawa's essay

Books by the Dōmei

All the books listed below are by the three photographers as a group.

Notes

  1. There was a 24 January 2009 symposium by and about Raika Dōmei. Its domain name, raikadomei.jp, was functioning as its website as late as 28 December 2009, but by 25 August 2011 was being used to advertise diet pills. (The Wayback Machine did not archive the website between these dates.)

References

  1. Tokyo Kaleidoscope, p.111.
  2. 1 2 Exhibition notice for "Hakata Yamamori", Gallery-58. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  3. Article about a 24 January 2009 symposium by and about Raika Dōmei, Kurashiki City website (Japanese), accessed 15 January 2015.
  4. "Raika Dōmei towa", Raika Dōmei website (Japanese), as archived by the Wayback Machine on 31 July 2009; accessed 14 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 Lists of exhibitions, Takanashi Yutaka: Hikari no fīrudonōto (高梨豊 光のフィールドノート) / Yutaka Takanashi: Field Notes of Light (Tokyo: National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 2009) pp. 161, 163. (Japanese) (English)
  6. 1 2 3 List of past exhibitions at Art Gallery C-Square, Chukyo University. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  7. Exhibition notice, Inax Gallery. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  8. List of past exhibitions, Mitsubishi Jisho Artium. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  9. Exhibition notice, Chukyo University. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  10. Exhibition notice, Musashino Art University. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  11. Exhibition notice, Chukyo University. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.
  12. Exhibition notice, Chukyo University. (Japanese) Accessed 14 March 2009.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, November 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.