Japan Through His Eyes

TAKASHI HOMMA

Kayleigh BarberPhoto 100

• Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1962• Studied photography at the Nihon University

College of Art • His first photography job was as an in-house

photographer for an advertising agency in Tokyo• In 1991 he moved to London and worked for i-D

Magazine as a photographer• In 1998 he completed his first major work titled

Tokyo Suburbia for which he won the Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award in 1999

• Following his series, Tokyo Suburbia, he has gone on to create works such as Tokyo and My Daughter, New Waves, and Mushrooms From the Forest

A BRIEF BACKGROUND

TOKYO SUBURBIA 1998

“Most Japanese photographers only take photos, they are not concerned about what happens afterward. But I always think about the editing process. For example, in the “Tokyo and My Daughter” series there are some pictures of a little girl displayed among others of landscapes. The original girl

pictures were not actually taken by me. They are like “found photos.” They were taken by the girl’s real parents

and were in a family album that I photographed. I then displayed those pictures alongside my own landscapes. That

mixture of images is key to the editing process and how I present my work to the public.”

– Takashi Homma

TOKYO AND MY DAUGHTER2006

NEW WAVES2000-2013

2002

2002

2003

2005

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami of March 11th, 2011, near Japan’s Tohoku region, led to the catastrophic equipment failures and nuclear disaster of the Fukushima

Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Six Months later, on September 15th, the Japanese government prohibited the gathering and ingestion of any mushrooms grown in the

forty-three cities of Fukushima prefecture. Traces of radiation exceeding safety limits were detected in some

wild mushroom varieties. Fungi inherently absorb radiation much more rapidly than other organisms. My Geiger

counter detected a greatly elevated level of radiation in the lush forests of Fukushima when compared to the region’s

urban areas. The wild mushrooms in the photographs assembled here are from those forests.” – Takashi

Homma 

MUSHROOMS FROM THE FOREST

2011

Desai, Prajna. "Takashi Homma: New Documentary." Aperture Magazine (2011): 16-17. EBSCO Host. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.

Homma, Takashi. 1998. Tokyo Suburbia, Tokyo, Japan.

Homma, Takashi. 2000-2013. New Waves, New York City.

Homma, Takashi. 2006. Tokyo and My Daughter, Tokyo, Japan.

"Mushrooms From The Forest 2011." Mushrooms From the Forest. Lost in Publications, 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2015.

"Tokyo and My Daughter." Tokyo and My Daughter. Lost in Publications, 6 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2015.

"Tokyo." Aperture Foundation NY RSS. Aperture Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2015.

Vartanian, Ivan. "Inside Takashi Homma's Studio." Aperture Magazine 1 Feb. 2013: 29-30. EBSCO Host. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.

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