Special Blog post - Tadahiko Hayashi

The post for this week is a special blog post. The theme for this week is Japanese photographers. How is Japan visualized through the eye of a native Japanese? I have chosen Tadahiko Hayashi as my focused photographer. Hayashi was born in Japan 1918 and was mostly active in photography during the wartime but mostly after the war period. He has been praised for his documentary pictures and was active with photography until his death in 1990.

He was considered one of the most influential photographers during the time period after the war and the pictures he is famous for are the pictures taken after the war, which he have focus on the repercussions and the crisis Japan had after the fall of the empire.I have chosen these two photos because they are very uncommon during this time period in Japan. The first picture is taken 1946, and is a picture of a two orphaned kids smoking on the street.Orphaned kids on the street smoking, 1946.

The picture above is a very strong picture, with a powerful message. This was the reality for a lot of kids after the war, with their parents being killed in action the war, but also how the dramatic changes happened after the war. This picture shows the backside of the war and what poverty. It got so out of hand that the kids have started smoking. It reminds me of pictures of kids in Africa, who sniffs glue to get through their day.A writer in his study room. Taken around 1950

The final picture I have chosen is of a writer working in his study room. As you can see on the picture, it is a big mess. The picture gives me the impression of how important it was to work after the war, this man works so hard, that he doesn’t have time to clean or take a break. His food, and trash is everywhere. The subject of the photos are obviously the backside of the war. His picture were very contemporary and showed a more documentary feeling in the pictures. It is hard to see these kind of pictures in Japan today, because Japan have clearly got out of the crisis they had after the war.

Even though Japan do have poverty in small amount, that was nothing against what they had back then. These picture might now represent Japan today, but it shows that Japan have had a rough time, but they got through this hard time. It does represent the contemporary Japan during this time, but Japans image in the world is different today.

My personal opinions about the pictures is that it represents a dark chapter of Japanese history, and I have never seen similar pictures from this time. The first picture shows how the children of the war were affected, and the last picture shows how, even in the darkest times, he doesn’t give up, maybe this shows the Japanese mentality? Japanese people are famous for being very ambitious and strong for the determination. To summarize these pictures impact they had, is truly interesting. Even though it shows a dark chapter in Japan during these harsh times, it is today a memorable picture of how it used to be, and how strong Japan is today.

/Quangus

Sources for biography:

http://www.studioequis.net/showArtist.php?artistID=313

Sources for pictures:

Orphaned kids smoking on the street
http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4636:light-and-shade-images-of-post-war-japan-&catid=21:culture&Itemid=165

A writer in his study room
http://i.yimg.jp/images/cert/digicam_text/chap1/ph_009_01.jpg