Domon Ken. The Master of Japanese Realism

Domon Ken is viewed as the undisputed master of Japanese photography, and the principal promoter of realism in the country. From the 1920s to the 1980s he produced over 70,000 photos, in addition to volumes, articles and critical commentary on photography. The exhibition is curated by Rossella Menegazzo and gives an account of his career, which began with propaganda during the war years and ended in photography as his life mission, a personal search for his own private Japan. The fascinating and silent country of ancient temples, Buddhist sculpture, puppet theatre (where he took refuge during the War). The seductive and lively country seen in his portraits of famous people, in the humble shots of street urchins. And also a more miserable country composed of mining villages and, finally, of the shocking reality of Hiroshima and its still open wounds.