Concrete Playground

Beyond the clichés of cuteness and eccentricity, Japan is a country that has been through massive societal upheaval in the last four decades. It has seen the bubble economy and the effects of its dramatic burst, the rise of a hyper-consumerist culture, the information revolution, the exponential increase of population in urban areas, the devastation of natural disasters, the loss of traditional communities and countless other twists and turns.

Gazing at the Contemporary World: Japanese Photography from the 1970s to the Present looks at documentation of Japan’s changing social and geographic landscapes in this time through the gaze of 23 photographers including Nobuyoshi Araki, Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama and Takashi Homma. Curated by Rei Masuda (Chief Curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), the touring exhibition incorporates an extremely broad scope while being refreshingly devoid of Hello Kitty.