“Photographs are fossils of light and memory, and photographs are the history of memory” (Daido Moriyama, “The Myth of Light” excerpt from his memoir “Memories of a Dog”, 2004). “Memories of Light” unearths the journey of a wanderer whose only guides while on the road have been, for over half a century, his memories and souvenirs. Born in 1938 in Osaka, Daido Moriyama lived through the Second World War, Japan’s defeat, the military occupation and the rise and demise of the “economic miracle”.

Daido Moriyama’s photographs, often described as out of focus, blurred and heavily contrasted, have been exhibited in several museums such as the San Francisco MoMA in 1999 or the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art contemporain in Paris in 2003. Shown this summer at the National Museum of Art of Osaka (June to September 2011) he will be featured in a commanding confrontation “ William Klein / Daido Moriyama” at the Tate Gallery in London next year. (October 2012 - January 2013).

Daido Moriyama is one of the most important post-war Japanese artists. His pioneering work has rendered Japan one of history’s most creative school of photography. Moriyama, the leader of the Provoke movement prevalent in the sixties and early seventies, is responsible for the renewal of the photographic language. He is the author of numerous books.
“Farewell Photography” (1972) and “ Light and Shadow” (1982) have been pivotal publications. Along with the exhibition “Daido Moriyama, Memories of Light” a long portfolio of his work is published in the summer issue of Polka Magazine.