Between 1957 and 1972, a radical transformation regarding the language of photography took place in Japan, led by a group of photographers who began their production during the post-war era. This renovation happened alongside the great economic, cultural and psycho-social changes of this period, marked by a social confrontation which was mostly directed against the legacy of the American occupation.

This exhibition shows a selection of works from the Per Amor a l’Art Collection, that constitutes the most important private collection of Japanese photography of this time outside Japan.

The Gaze of Things: Japanese Photography in the Context of Provoke brings together a selection of images that focuses on the artists involved in the formation of VIVO (1959-1961) such as Ikkō Narahara, Shōmei Tōmatsu, Eikoh Hosoe, Akira Satō or Kikuji Kawada, as well as the collective responsible for Provoke magazine (Provocative Materials for Thought) (1968), such as Yutaka Takanashi, Takuma Nakahira and Daidō Moriyama.

The experimental way in which these artists presented images as products of an era characterised by political events of great relevance became a phenomenon and a reference to future photographers inside and out of Japan. Its effects are even appreciated today.

Thus, apart from the aforementioned photographers, the exhibition showcases the works of Toyoko Tokiwa, Nobuyoshi Araki, Ishiuchi Miyako, Kōji Enokura or Tamiko Nishimura, among others.