Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation

by Shomei Tomatsu (Photographer), Leo Rubinfien, John W. Dower

Japan’s brilliant and influential postwar photographer Shomei Tomatsu (b. 1930) has created some of the most dramatic images in the history of photography. Many of his photographs have become icons of the twentieth century. This important book is the first in-depth English-language study of Tomatsu’s work. Richly illustrated and handsomely designed, it features more than one hundred plates representing—in ten thematic sections—the full range of his career.

Tomatsu emerged in the 1950s with his sensitive pictures of postwar Japan. In the 1960s the artist turned his camera to the aftermath of the atomic bomb and the lingering presence of the U. S. military in his homeland. In subsequent decades his lens has captured the elation of Japan’s economic boom and the problems inspired by his culture’s increasing westernization. Throughout, Tomatsu’s pictures have consistently resonated not only with Japanese society but also with American culture. Included in this book are essays by distinguished scholars on all aspects of the artist’s life and career as well as a selection of brief excerpts from Tomatsu’s own writings, many of which have never appeared in English.

Skin of the Nation (the book’s subtitle) is both a literal and metaphorical reference to the surfaces that have appeared in countless pictures throughout Tomatsu’s career. For the artist, skin is more than just a surface, it is a kind of map in which one can read the story of Japan—its essence and its future.

Genres: Photography, Japan, Art, Asia

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2004

Reviews

[Terry94705 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive photography by one who came of age during the occupation of Japan. Explores themes of Americanization, Eros and the remnants (human and physical) of atomic blast in Nagasaki, circa 1961. The essay by John Dower gives the social context of post war Japan and Tomatsu's development as a photographer. Other essays by curator and critic. Tomatsu died in 2012. (BPLibrary)

[Flora Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

2014/1/23

[Jo O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of photographs hampered by a bombastic, 70-page introductory essay that isn't nearly as deep as its author thinks it is.

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Handsome book spanning Tomatsu's long career and organized thematically. The photos are impressively varied and the accompanying essays provide a compelling history of Japanese photography. Many intriguing trails to follow, such as the briefly lived radical magazine Provoke. I'd quibble that some of Tomatsu's most interesting work is shown in miniature while more iconic images get blown up, but this is still a remarkable book.

[Vogisland · Rating 5 out of 5]

The photos are excellent and the essays are ok, but 112 plates is simply not enough to do justice to Tomatsu's 50-year career. As a result, the book is more of a sampler than a retrospective. I also don't like the sequencing, which attempts to be thematic but ends up a bit over-curated and repetitive. This is great if you just want to check out Tomatsu, but if you have a deeper interest, probably better to pick up one of his collections like 11:02 Nagasaki or Chewing Gum and Chocolate.

[Youngki.bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite Japanese photographer, I think. Tomatsu provides a complex and nuanced view of postwar Japanese society through photographs that are riddled with conflicting meanings, while challenging the viewer to consider what photographs show us.

[Tully · Rating 5 out of 5]

a strange and haunting classic of modern Japanese photography