Friday, September 8, 2023 – Wednesday, November 1, 2023
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tokyo Polytechnic University, the Shadai Gallery will host an exhibition of the work of photographer and University graduate Tatsuki Yoshihiro.
Tatsuki Yoshihiro made a stunning debut as a photographer with A Fallen Angel, a 56-page cover feature in Camera Mainichi in 1965. He went freelance in 1969. While publishing prolifically, especially nudes and other photographs of women, he produced images for the wide-ranging fields of advertising, magazines, and books. He continues to vigorously produce work to this day.
The most characteristic feature of Tatsuki as a photographer is the wide range of genres he works in. It almost seems as if he deliberately refuses to be pigeonholed. Above all, he is sensitive to the times. His work is responsive to shifting fashions, style, trends, and social conditions. Perhaps this is why he appears to be running with the times. To borrow a phrase the photographer uses, this might be captured by the “quality of shared residence.” Or, as he has written, “I have never considered the things I photograph to be ‘works.’ I have never thought of leaving them to posterity. I photograph things I like, the way I like. I shoot to my own satisfaction.” (Tō-ji [Shūeisha, 1998]) In this posture of always following his curiosity in his engagement with photography, we can detect something of Tatsuki’s stance and determination as a photographer.
In his nearly 60-year career, Tatsuki has produced voluminous work. From this oeuvre, we have focused on portraits in our selection of photographs to exhibit. These include work from his seminal series A Fallen Angel, as well as a rare early portrait that he published in Asahi Camera in 1957, when he was 20; the documentary series from his 40s, My America; Buddhist statues, including a national treasure at Tō-ji temple; and portraits of elder residents in the disaster zone of the Great East Japan Earthquake. There are also recent portraits with young students as models, and family portraits that hearken back to Tatsuki’s origins at his family’s photography studio. With its mixture of famous and anonymous, holy and profane, new and old, this exhibition offers an opportunity to take a new look at Tatsuki Yoshihiro, a photographer who established a unique artistry that continues to evolve today.
Kobayashi Kisei, exhibition organizer
Born in Tokushima Prefecture. His family operated a photography studio with roots in the Meiji era. Graduated in 1958 from the Department of Photographic Art at the Tokyo College of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University). When the advertising company Ad Center was established the following year, he joined as a cameraman. In 1965 he published the 56-page photographic feature A Fallen Angel in Camera Mainichi. After he went freelance in 1969, he published prolifically, especially photographs of women, while remaining active across a broad range of fields, including advertising, magazines, and book publishing. In 1965, he was given the new artist award by the Japan Photo Critics Association, and in 1987, he was awarded the Kodansha Publishing Culture Prize for photography. Since 1979, he has served as a juror for the University’s Fox Talbot Award (since 2022, he has been chair of the jury).
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Portrait, 1957
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Lonely is the word, 1965
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Lonely is the word, 1965
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Piccolo, 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“EVES”, Emie Aoki, 1966
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“EVES”, Angela Asaoka, 1970
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“EVES”, Susan Yaguchi, 1970
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“EVES”, Honey Reine, 1970
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Just Friends, 1975
Silver dye bleach print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“PRIVATE”, Mariko Kaga, 1971
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“PRIVATE”, Mariko Kaga, 1971
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“PRIVATE”, Mariko Kaga, 1971
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“PRIVATE”, Mariko Kaga, 1971
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Reiko Ohara,
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Kiwako Taichi, 1980
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
MY AMERICA, 1979〜1980
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Kayoko Kishimoto, 1982
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Jakucho Setouchi, 1983
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Keiko Matsuzaka, 1978
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Kyoko Koizumi, 1984
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Aikyo, jyara jyara, 1983
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Aikyo, jyara jyara, 1983
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Aikyo, jyara jyara, 1983
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Aikyo, jyara jyara, 1983
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Fashion Models , 2018
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Joji Abe Family, 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Hitoshi Ueki Family , 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Koshiro Matsumoto Family , 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Kageki Shimoda Family , 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Kirin Kiki Family, 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Isao Aoki Family, 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“Scene of Parents and Children”, Seiji Ozawa Family, 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Shintaro Katsu and Tamao Nakamura, 1994
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
HANAKESHIKI, 1981
Silver dye bleach print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
HANAKESHIKI, 1981
Silver dye bleach print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Ishinomaki, 2014
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Ishinomaki, 2014
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Ishinomaki, 2014
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Ishinomaki, 2014
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Takeshi Kaiko, 1974
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Tadanori Yokoo, 1970
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Beat Takeshi, 1993
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Yusaku Matsuda, 1980
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Juzo Itami, 1992
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Director Seijun Suzuki, 2001
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
Tatsumi Hijikata , 1969
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
HANAKESHIKI, 1981
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
HANAKESHIKI, 1981
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“To-ji”, Standing Statue of Yasha , 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“To-ji”, Sitting Statue of Brahma, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“To-ji”, Statue of Bodhi Nikkō, 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
“To-ji”, Statue of Vaisravana , 1998
Ink-jet print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
A Fallen Angel, 1965
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
A Fallen Angel, 1965
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
A Fallen Angel, 1965
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
A Fallen Angel, 1965
Gelatin silver print
Yoshihiro Tatsuki
A Fallen Angel, 1965
Gelatin silver print
