Daido Moriyama

Daido Moriyama is one of Japan’s most influential and internationally celebrated photographers, known for his raw, high-contrast black-and-white imagery that captures the alienation and energy of postwar urban life. Born in 1938 in Osaka, Moriyama initially studied graphic design before assisting photographer Takeji Iwamiya and later Eikoh Hosoe, experiences that shaped his experimental approach. He became associated with the radical 1960s Japanese photography movement surrounding the magazine Provoke, which championed the “are-bure-boke” (grainy, blurry, out-of-focus) aesthetic—an intentionally rough style that rejected technical polish in favor of emotional immediacy and subjective truth. His groundbreaking 1972 photobook Farewell Photography dismantled conventional photographic form through extreme abstraction, while his earlier and ongoing series Japan: A Photo Theater and Hunter explored nightlife, consumer culture, and the psychological landscape of cities like Tokyo and Osaka. Moriyama’s iconic image of a stray dog, often simply titled Stray Dog, has become emblematic of his restless, wandering perspective. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has published hundreds of photobooks and exhibited worldwide, profoundly influencing contemporary street and documentary photography. His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography and major retrospectives at institutions such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern, cementing his legacy as a pioneer who reshaped the language of modern photography.