For the 76th album in its " 100 photos for press freedom " collection, Reporters Without Borders is honoring Japan for the first time through 14 great names in photography.
Since 1992, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published one to three volumes a year dedicated to a great photographer who redefines the world behind the lens. The NGO, founded in 1985 by journalists Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat and Émilien Jubineau, sometimes broadens the scope of representations through various themes, such as nature, soccer, the Cannes Film Festival, jazz, the road, or even more recently, trees and the sea. Very few countries have yet had the honor of being the subject of an album: until now, only India had been presented, as seen by the great image hunters of the Magnum agency. For the first time, Japan takes pride of place in the collection, as seen through the eyes of 14 photographic icons.
BETWEEN BEAUTY AND COMPLEXITY
The choice of the Land of the Rising Sun is not insignificant. In the words of Thibaut Bruttin, deputy managing director, in the editorial, " the archipelago of over 10,000 islands and 125 million inhabitants sells 45 million newspapers every day. A record that masks the difficulties of journalism in a country ranked only 70th in the RSF press freedom index ". With this in mind, the selection aims to highlight " the diversity of voices and viewpoints " of a handful of renowned men and women, to show through images " this free and plural journalism ".
In Japan, Daido Moriyama and Ken Domon have established themselves as masters of photography. Moriyama's powerful, non-conformist aesthetic probes the vibrant streets of Tokyo, while Domon plunges us into the stigma of Hiroshima survivors. The atmosphere is different with Masahisa Fukase, exhibiting his tortured obsession with his wife, his entourage and his cats. Toshio Shibata, meanwhile, shakes up the codes of landscape photography, focusing on the aesthetic consequences of urbanization and the economic boom.
Rare Japanese women have also been able to bring their vision to life behind the lens. Such is the case of Miyako Ishiuchi, winner of the Women in Motion 2024 prize, who documents the traces of American occupation during the Vietnam War in the places where she grew up. But also Hitomi Watanabe, who takes a close-up look at the student revolts in Tokyo in the 1970s.
PLURAL AND FRAGMENTARY PANORAMA
In the ranks of these multiple perspectives, RSF has chosen five great French names. Starting with Henri Cartier-Bresson, who takes us into his "decisive moments" in the heart of the archipelago. Françoise Huguier captures more of the urban effervescence, while portraying, with her friend the film critic Serge Daney, the great directors Nagisa Oshima, Akira Kurosawa and Shohei Imamura. Charles Fréger's approach is more folkloric, celebrating the masked figures who enchant local festivals and rituals, while Julie Glassberg transports us into the world of dekotora (decoration trucks), those ultra-decorated Japanese trucks illuminated by passionate drivers. As for Pierre-Elie de Pibrac, he reveals intimate portraits of anonymous drifters.
RSF completes this fragmented panorama with Switzerland's Werner Bischof, who captures the vivid and the timeless in cities and countryside, temples and sacred places, and Russia's Georgi Pinkhassov, who experiments with Tokyo's shapes in a burst of color thanks to his mastery of framing and light.
This 76th album offers a truly wide range of representations, with texts by novelist Amélie Nothomb and journalist Emil Pacha Valencia. Fourteen glimpses, fourteen fragments, fourteen truths about Japan.
REGARDS SUR LE JAPON - COLLECTION " 100 PHOTOS POUR LA LIBERTÉ
DE LA PRESSE ", ÉDITIONS RSF, JUIN 2024
RSF.ORG
