PROVOKE: Between Protest and Performance - Photography in Japan 1960/1975

This is the official exhibition catalog published in conjunction with "PROVOKE: Between Protest and Performance - Photography in Japan 1960/1975," an exhibition that toured internationally from 2016 to 2017. The book re-examines Japanese photography from 1960 to 1975 alongside movements in protest, performance, publishing, urbanism, the body, and politics.

The exhibition traveled to the Albertina in Austria, the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, LE BAL in Paris, and The Art Institute of Chicago. While centering on the photography zine "PROVOKE," it places Japanese photographic expression, social movements, artist books, and print culture from before and after its existence within a broader context.

This book features numerous valuable publications and photographic works from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. In addition to the activities of Koji Taki, Takahiko Okada, Takuma Nakahira, Yutaka Takanashi, Daido Moriyama, and other members of the "PROVOKE" collective, it also addresses the relationship with contemporary art and performance through the works of Nobuyoshi Araki, Koji Enokura, Jiro Takamatsu, and others.

Edited by Diane Dufour, Matthew S. Witkovsky, Duncan Forbes, and Walter Moser. With a contribution by Yoko Sawada. Designed by Pierre Hourquet. Also includes interviews with Daido Moriyama, Yutaka Takanashi, and Eikoh Hosoe. The cover features a photograph of editor Takuma Nakahira taken by Shomei Tomatsu in 1964.

This catalog explores the passion of the short-lived photography zine "PROVOKE" and the practices of the photographers around it. Rough grain, blur, bokeh, printing, streets, politics, bodily expression. Through 680 pages and 600 illustrations and essays, it traces an era when photography was both a record and an act. It is a highly valuable document for understanding post-war Japanese photography, the history of photobooks, avant-garde art, and 1960s culture.

[Title] PROVOKE: Between Protest and Performance - Photography in Japan 1960/1975
[Publisher] Steidl / LE BAL / Albertina / Fotomuseum Winterthur
[Publication Date] 2016 (First Edition)
[Page Count] 680 pages (600 illustrations)
[Size] Approx. 191 x 250 x 45 mm / 2,120g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] English
[Title Reading] PROVOKE BETWEEN PROTEST AND PERFORMANCE
[Author/Editor, etc.] Diane Dufour/Editor, Matthew S. Witkovsky/Editor, Duncan Forbes/Editor, Walter Moser/Editor, Yoko Sawada/Contributor, Pierre Hourquet/Designer, Nathalie Chapuis/Coordination, Emilie Hanmer/Coordination, Marc Feustel/Biographies & Proofreading
[Printing] Steidl/Printing
[ISBN] 9783958291003
[Condition] Used【9】Excellent
[Accessories] -
[Featured In] -
[Related Exhibition] "PROVOKE: Between Protest and Performance - Photography in Japan 1960/1975" (Albertina, Fotomuseum Winterthur, LE BAL, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2016-2017)

PROVOKE 1968-1969

A photography zine founded in 1968. Its full title was "PROVOKE: Provocative Documents for Thought."

It was founded by Takuma Nakahira, Yutaka Takanashi, Koji Taki, and Takahiko Okada, with Daido Moriyama joining from the second issue. Though short-lived, with only three issues, it had a significant impact on post-war Japanese photography through its photographic expression characterized by rough grain, blur, and bokeh, and its experiments concerning the relationship between photography and language, and photography and thought.

Against the backdrop of political movements, urban changes, and transformations in the media environment, it presented photography not merely as a record but as an expression to re-examine our relationship with the world.

< Related Figures >

Takuma Nakahira, Daido Moriyama, Yutaka Takanashi, Koji Taki, Takahiko Okada, Shomei Tomatsu, Eikoh Hosoe, Nobuyoshi Araki, Minoru Hirata, Koji Enokura, Jiro Takamatsu, Diane Dufour, Matthew S. Witkovsky, Duncan Forbes, Walter Moser, Yoko Sawada, Pierre Hourquet, Marc Feustel, Steidl, LE BAL, Albertina, Fotomuseum Winterthur, The Art Institute of Chicago