The History of Japanese Photography

This volume is the culmination of eight years of work by Anne Tucker, photography curator of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH). While attending an exhibition of work by a Japanese photographer, she discovered that a complete and authoritative history of Japanese photography had never been compiled, nor had it even ever been attempted. The private and somewhat feudal nature of Japan’s art institutions made them reluctant to share information or the art works housed in their collections with one another. Under the guidance of Anne Tucker, the MFAH has over the years assembled a very substantial and important photography collection, in large part because of the museum’s willingness to make bold decisions and to try new things. In this case, the MFAH was told that it couldn’t be done but the museum went ahead with the project anyway; eight years later the first-ever history of Japanese photography was created by an art museum in Houston.

We wanted the design of the book to be of the highest quality possible and the cover in particular to reflect the boldness of this undertaking. The solution was a very understated and simple design befitting the Japanese aesthetic. We photographed a camera lens and then changed the color of the lens to red so that the composition resembles the distinctive Japanese “Rising Sun” flag. The cover says “Japanese” and “photography” in a completely visual way without the inclusion of any typography or titling.

The book and the exhibition were a big success and now the Japanese are saying that they want to produce their own book.

“A perfect metaphor, a perfect cover for its subject.” Jack Woody
“Clever and successful in its execution. Simple and clean.” Isabel Warren-Lynch