May 14, 2009 - Sale 2180

Sale 2180 - Lot 27

Unsold
Estimate: $ 9,000 - $ 12,000
DOMON, KEN & TOMATSU, SHOMEI.
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Document 1961.
Illustrated with dark gravure reproductions of Domon's and Tomatsu's photographs of the aftermath of the atomic bomb explosions. Square 4to, gray-stamped white boards, backstrip lightly foxed, but overall tight and clean; with the accompanying booklet of scientific and historical data laid in, wrappers lightly soiled; card chemise and original printed card slipcase, the latter chipped and worn with four small punctures. Parr/Badger I 274. first edition.
Np: The Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, 1961
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Additional Details

Ken Domon's ascetic documentarian photographs (first seen in his book "Hiroshima" published three years earlier) paired with Tomatsu's more symbolic, expressive images rawly memorialize the trauma of the atomic bomb. In contrast to Domon, Tomatsu represents a younger generation looking for new, more expressive ways of representing the Japanese crisis. Tomatsu's "Nagasaki 11:02," published seven years later, revisited many of the images found here and fully realized these new, powerful tropes of representational photography.

The accompanying informational booklet by the Japan Council Against the Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs both balances and strengthens these artistic forces.