Two giants of the Japanese photography meet in Paris, across times. Daido Moriyama ans Shomei Tomatsu conceived a joint (large) exhibit before Tomatsu’s death, to show their love of Tokyo, the city-world / world-city, as two faces of the same coin. The approach of both photographers is quite different, as can be experienced on two separate levels of the beautifully designed MEP building. The location is the same, like Shinjuku, but the visions of the two artists are quite different. In a nutshell, soft vs hard. Tomatsu’s photogaphs are soft in their approach, their rendition. It shows close up of people embracing, landscapes or people engulfed in artistic vagueness. Moriyama is in your face, with strong – highly contrasted grainy blacks, movements, furor, sex. Which Tokyo do you prefer?
