Yasuhiro Ishimoto «Chicago» 1962 Original Signed Silver Gelatin
Ishimoto YasuhiroChicago 1962 (print, ca. 1983) Gelatin silver print. Signed in pencil lower right. Mounted in archival support as issued. Never framed. Mat folder: 18 x 22 inSheet: 11 x 14 in Image: 7 1/8 x 10 in adapted from Sotheby’s website: Yasuhiro Ishimoto (石元泰博) was born in San Francisco, California, in 1921, raised in his parents’ hometown in Kōchi Prefecture in Japan, and subjected to internment in the remote plains of Colorado before making homes in both Chicago and Tokyo, photographer Yasuhiro Ishimoto was called a “visual bilingualist” by photographer and critic Minor White. During his long career in photography, which stretched from the post-war years to the 21st century, he developed a subtle syncretism of Eastern and Western aesthetic sensibilities in capturing both fleeting human moments and stolid urban architecture.After graduating from high school in Japan, he returned stateside to study architecture at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Architecture would remain an important focus in his photographic practice, which he began to learn while detained with his family at the Amache Internment Camp from 1942 to 1944. Returning to Chicago in 1946, Ishimoto joined an amateur camera club and enrolled in the Chicago Institute of Design, where his instructors included Harry M. Callahan and Aaron Siskind. In 1955, Edward Steichen selected his work for the legendary Family of Man exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. In 1969, he published a photo book of monochrome street scenes, Chicago, Chicago (シカゴ、シカゴ), which cemented his reputation as a keen observer of city life; at the time, he was also teaching at various design schools in Tokyo. From the 1970s on, Ishimoto also experimented in color, producing vibrant, multi-exposure abstractions for the design magazine Approach, studies of the Katsura Imperial Villa and a full-size reproduction of Monet’s immense Water Lilies triptych at MoMA. In 1996, the Cabinet of Japan named him a Person of Cultural Merit. He died on February 6, 2012, in Tokyo. Ishimoto’s work can be found in many major world museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Yasuhiro Ishimoto Shibuya Shibuya 2007 Vintage Tokyo Photo Art Book
A 2007 Japanese photobook by Yasuhiro Ishimoto, one of the leading figures of postwar Japanese modernist photography. This volume focuses on Shibuya, Tokyo, capturing the city’s streets, architecture, movement, signs, and urban atmosphere through Ishimoto’s refined visual language. Rather than a simple Tokyo street record, the book presents Shibuya as a layered study of space, rhythm, design, and everyday urban life. Ishimoto’s sharp sense of composition connects documentary photography with architecture, modern design, and fine art photography.
Yasuhiro Ishimoto 1948-1989 Photo Exhibition Japan Architecture Art Book
A 1989 Japanese photography exhibition catalog dedicated to Yasuhiro Ishimoto, one of the key figures of postwar Japanese modernist photography. This volume surveys Ishimoto’s visual world from 1948 to 1989, offering a strong overview of his refined sense of composition, structure, light, and space. Ishimoto is internationally recognized for connecting Japanese architectural tradition with modernist photographic language, especially through works related to architecture, design, and urban observation. The book is ideal for collectors interested in Japanese photography, modern architecture, Bauhaus-influenced vision, documentary photography, and postwar visual culture.