Visual Arts

Hong Kong has exper­i­enced a tide of mass enthu­siasm for the works of Japanese pho­to­graphy master Daido Moriyama. Just at the moment of Moriyama’s cur­rent large-scale public exhib­i­tion and pho­to­graphy com­pet­i­tion, as well as his arrival for talks and sym­posia, The Photocrafters has dis­covered an anonymous pho­to­graphy master hitherto unknown to present in our second exhib­i­tion. His works are truly aston­ishing, more candid than Moriyama’s street shots and more instinctual than Cartier-Bresson’s Decisive Moment.

10,000 never-before-seen photos by this anonymous master will be unveiled, some in black and white printand some pro­jected in their uned­ited form. Visitors will dis­cover how post-production can give new meaning to pho­to­graphy and examine the role of ori­gin­ality and influ­ence in devel­oping an artistic voice.

This exhib­i­tion will be on dis­play at The Photocrafters’studio from November 4 to December 5. The anonymous artist will appear in person on November 18 for a public dis­cus­sion. Please don’t miss your chance to meet the artist and dis­cuss the exhib­ited works!

The series of photos may appear to be in the style of Moriyama, but in reality, they are a satir­ical cri­tique of works by those who blindly wor­ship and idolize pho­to­graphy icons. We hope that once vis­itors come to under­stand the motiv­a­tion behind this exhib­i­tion and the uncon­ven­tional equip­ment and pro­cess used, they will ree­valuate the praise given to ‘mas­ters’, the mim­icking of some mas­ters’ form and style, and the ped­estal upon which‘masters’ are placed. The exhib­i­tion aims to instigate a deeper reflec­tion of one’s rela­tion­ship to photography.

Can we truly “leave the forest” of Moriyama’s pho­to­graphic style? Or are the 10,000 photos exhib­ited merely farce? If they are nothing but a joke, what would you dis­cover when you look at Moriyama’ s work once again?