Photographers [upd] - Setting Sun Writings By Japanese

The primary source for writings by Japanese photographers on this subject is the anthology Setting Sun: Writings by Japanese Photographers (Aperture, 2005) . Edited by Ivan Vartanian, Akihiro Hatanaka, and Yutaka Kambayashi, it is the first English collection of its kind, featuring 29 essays by 19 influential photographers spanning from the 1950s to the early 2000s . Overview of the Anthology

Unlike the Western tradition, Japanese photographers have a robust history of contributing critical and personal writings to magazines and photobooks . The anthology is organized into seven thematic sections that define the unique aesthetic and philosophical landscape of Japanese photography :

Realism: Explores the objective "witness" role, featuring Ken Domon and Shomei Tomatsu .

Landscapes: Discusses the relationship with the environment and the concept of fukei .

Memory and Time: Focuses on nostalgia and the "passage of time," notably through Daido Moriyama .

Media: Examines the role of the photograph as a reproduction and its social impact . setting sun writings by japanese photographers

Photo Log: Diaristic entries and personal reflections from photographers like Takuma Nakahira .

Man/Woman: Explores gender dynamics and intimacy, featuring Nobuyoshi Araki and Miyako Ishiuchi .

Sentimentalism: Delves into emotional truth and personal grief, such as Seiichi Furuya’s account of his wife's suicide . Key Photographers and Their Contributions

Daido Moriyama: Contributes several articles, including From Document to Memory (1973), where he discusses the evolution of his visual language . He famously described the earliest known photograph by Niépce—a grainy scene of the sun's passage—as deeply influential to his work .

Nobuyoshi Araki: Known for his "sentimentalism," his essays like My Mother's Death (1974) and Photographic Discourse as Strip Show (1976) highlight his disarmingly intimate and often provocative approach . The primary source for writings by Japanese photographers

Shomei Tomatsu: A pioneer of postwar photography, his essay The Man Who Said "I Saw It! I Saw It!" and Passed It By (1975) articulates the photographer's role as both a "passerby and a dweller" .

Takuma Nakahira: A central figure in the Provoke movement, his writing Self-Change in the Act of Shooting (1989) details his visceral, process-oriented philosophy . Cultural Significance SETTING SUN - Goliga Books

Preparation

  1. Scout locations: coastal areas (Enoshima, Miura Peninsula), mountains (Kamikochi, Mount Fuji viewpoints), urban vantage points (Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Tokyo Skytree observation decks), rice fields and rural roads.
  2. Check timing: use a sunset app to find golden hour start/end and sun azimuth for composition. Assume a 30–60 minute window around sunset for best light.
  3. Gear essentials:
    • Camera with manual controls (mirrorless preferred for weight).
    • Lenses: 24–70mm for versatility; 70–200mm or 100–400mm for compressed sun/macros of distant subjects; 14–24mm for dramatic skies.
    • Tripod for long exposures and HDR bracketing.
    • ND/grad ND filters for balancing sky and foreground.
    • Remote shutter or camera timer to reduce shake.
    • Lens cloth and weather protection.

Stillness and Transformation: The Minimalist Sun

If the Provoke generation screamed at the dusk, the next generation listened to its silence.

Hiroshi Sugimoto (b. 1948) offers the most literal interpretation of "setting sun writings" in his series Seascapes. For decades, Sugimoto has photographed the horizon line where the sky meets the sea, using a large-format camera and extremely long exposures. In images taken across the world—from the Sea of Japan to the English Channel—the setting sun is often a perfect, geometric semi-circle bisected by an infinite line.

Sugimoto’s writings are mathematical. He removes the grit, the people, and the politics. He asks: What does the last light look like to a stone? The answer is a study in minimalism. His sunsets are not sad; they are patient. They remind the viewer that human emotion is a fleeting overlay on a cosmic clockwork. In the Western tradition, a sunset is a performance; for Sugimoto, it is a fact. Preparation

Key Photographers and Their "Setting Sun Writings"

A. On the "Provoke" Era (Moriyama, Takanashi, Nakahashi)

Paper: "The Provoke Era: Japanese Photography, 1960–1975" Author: Diane Neumaier (Essay in the exhibition catalog of the same name) Summary: This academic paper (often found in the catalog published by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or Yale University Press) deconstructs the "Setting Sun" mentality as a reaction to the student protests of the 1960s and the "America-juku" (Americanization) of Japan. It explicitly links the gritty, high-contrast black-and-white work of Daido Moriyama to the concept of "erasing the world" to cope with the loss of traditional Japanese identity.

The Feminine Gaze: Rinko Kawauchi and the Liquid Light

The most tender "writings" come from the contemporary master Rinko Kawauchi (b. 1972). Her breakthrough book Utatane (2001)—which translates roughly to "a nap" or "dozing"—is laced with images of the sun dissolving into water. Kawauchi shoots the setting sun as it drowns in the Pacific, turning the ocean into a liquid mirror of lavender and gold.

Unlike the aggressive grain of Moriyama, Kawauchi uses prismatic flares and soft focus. The sun does not "set" in her work; it melts. She writes a haiku with the lens: a child’s hand reaching for the last beam, a puddle reflecting a fractured orange sphere, a glass of water catching the 5 PM light.

Her writings suggest that the setting sun is private, small, and intimate. While the male photographers of the 20th century treated the sun as a national or philosophical symbol, Kawauchi returns it to the domestic sphere. The end of the day is not an apocalypse; it is the moment you turn on a lamp.