Daido Moriyama

10 Contemporary Photographers Who Shoot in Black and White

Once a given, the absence of color in photography from the last few decades is now a deliberate choice, not a technological limitation. So why would a modern photographer opt for black and white, forgoing those vivid Lomo hues or subtle customized tones of an advanced SLR? Here are a few current big shots who don’t care for color, for whom shooting in black and white allows a specific style, a certain punch, a special magic their vision demands. Check ‘em out in our slideshow and let us know if we missed anyone. … Read More

Gritty Photos of Japan’s Red-Light and Commercial District

Burning car crashes, male geishas, stray dogs like wolves, girls running through rubble – since the 1960s, noted photographer Daidō Moriyama has been shooting gritty, high contrast, black-and-white images in Japan’s Shinjuku district iconic. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s newspaper silkscreens and the writings of Jack Kerouac and Yukio Mishima, Moriyama’s winding urban wanderings show snippets of cultural conflict in post-war Japan — Westernization, consumerism, ’80s fashion. See Shinjuku — home of the world’s busiest train station, a red-light district, and major government and commerce centers — filtered through Moriyama’s radical aesthetic of are, bure, boke (grainy, blurry, out-of-focus) at Fracture: Daido Moriyama, on view now through July 31st at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Wander the labyrinth in our slideshow of favorites and see who’s around the corner.  … Read More