Showa Photography: The Complete Works SERIES 10 Shoji Ueda

A collection of works by photographer Shoji Ueda, published by The Asahi Shimbun Company as the 10th volume in the "Showa Photography: Complete Works" series. The volume is structured to trace approximately 50 years of his photographic career, spanning from his early pre-war works to his representative post-war pieces and his later work.

Includes "Pre-war Selection: Early Masterpieces," "Eight Views of the Beach," "Early Post-war Selection," "Woman in the Dunes," "Sand Dune Theater," "Wind and Light of Izumo," "Silent Memories," "Children the Year Around," "Distant Diary," "Reminiscence of France," and "White Wind." It introduces not only Ueda's iconic staged photography in the sand dunes but also a wide range of his early work, landscapes of the San-in region, and his portraits of family and other figures.

The end of the volume contains an essay on Shoji Ueda by Koen Shigemori, a conversation titled "The Photographic World of Shoji Ueda," an autobiography, and a chronology. In the afterword, Ueda reflects on his career, which began around 1931, and positions this book as a "culmination of a half-century of work."

Shoji Ueda was based in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, and was known for his unique staged photography featuring figures positioned against beaches and sand dunes. At the same time, he continued to create photography using diverse methods throughout his life while emphasizing an "amateur spirit." This book provides an overview of that long career from the perspectives of both chronology and thematic series.

[Title] Showa Photography: Complete Works SERIES 10 Shoji Ueda
[Publisher] The Asahi Shimbun Company
[Publication Date] June 1, 1983 (First printing)
[Number of Pages] 159 pages
[Dimensions] Approx. 244 x 298 x 16 mm / 1,080g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] Showa Shashin Zen Shigoto Series 10 Ueda Shoji
[Author/Editor, etc.] Shoji Ueda (Author), Teruo Okai (Editor), Ryoko Notoya (Editor), Tomosuke Kobata (Cover design/Layout)
[Printing/Binding] Toppan Printing
[ISBN] 03722581300042
[Condition] Used [5] Average (Obi: scratches; Body: minor dents on spine corners, minor foxing on three sides)
[Included items] Obi
[Included in] -
[Related Exhibition] -

Shoji Ueda 1913–2000

Born in 1913 in Sakai-cho, Seihaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture (present-day Sakaiminato). In 1932, he moved to Tokyo to study at the Oriental Photography School, and after graduating, he returned to his hometown and opened a commercial photography studio at age 19. From the 1930s, he frequently exhibited in photography magazines and exhibitions, and was also active as a founding member of the Chugoku Photography Group.

After the war, he published works featuring figures posed against beaches and the Tottori Sand Dunes. His staged photographs, seen in works such as "Four Aspects of a Girl" and "Composition: My Family," were later introduced in France as a unique style known as "Ueda-cho" (Ueda style). In 1971, he published the photo book "Children the Year Around," and from 1974, he serialized "Small Biography" in *Camera Mainichi* for approximately 12 years.

He received the Annual Award from the Photographic Society of Japan in 1975 and the Society's Distinguished Service Award in 1989. In 1995, the Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography opened in Kishimoto-cho, Tottori Prefecture (present-day Hoki-cho), and in 1996, he was awarded the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He passed away in 2000.

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Koen Shigemori
Teruo Okai
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Ken Domon
Shoji Yamagishi
Camera Mainichi
Shoji Ueda Museum of Photography
The Asahi Shimbun Company