Customer Reviews

The History of Japanese Photography (Museum of Fine Arts S.)

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This is one of the finest photography books I've seen recently. Filled with page after page of gorgeous photographs spanning a range of over one hundred years, from rare vintage images to fascinating contemporary work, this volume tells the story of a vastly understudied area of artistic work. Everything about this volume--its design, its production, its content--does beautiful justice to the subject matter. Finally--a worthy book on Japanese photography!!!

I must say that this book is beautiful and I hightly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Japanese photography. I have started reading it and the writing is refreshingly lucid and informative while the photographic reproductions are impressive. At times, the authors do presuppose a knowledge of Western photographic history that may be daunting for some readers. If you are not familiar with that history you may not find the arguments or explanations as productive or interesting as they are. However, even if you are a unfamiliar with the history and you are just curious about the topic, this book has a lot to offer if you just skim the essays. The more academic-minded readers will find the essays to be critically and historically illuminating, intriguing, and thought-provoking. Plus the book is so beautiful.