Domon Ken

Domon, Ken

Domon Ken ( Japanese 土 門 拳 ; born October 25, 1909 , in Sakata ( Yamagata Prefecture ); died September 15, 1990 ) was a Japanese photographer of the Shōwa period .

life and work

As a student, Domon wanted to be a painter, but in 1929 he enrolled in the law school of Nihon Daigaku . Then he began in 1933 under Miyauchi Kōtarō ( 宮内 幸 太 ; 1872-1939) to acquire the techniques of photography. In 1935 he took up his work in the design studio Nihon Kōbō ( 日本 工房 ), where he joined the editorial staff of "Nippon", an illustrated magazine in English. In 1943 he received the first “Arus Photography Culture Prize” for “Domon Ken - Character Studies ” ( 土 門 拳 人物 写真 , Domon Ken, Jimbutsu shashin ) and “Domon Ken - Selected Works” ( 土 門 拳 選集 , Domon Ken, Senshū ).

In 1945 Domon became a freelance photographer and opened a laboratory for photo development and the production of prints. That was when he began to be interested in Nara and Kyōto . In 1953 he published a number of portraits that had already been published as a book with the title "Apparition" ( 風貌 , Fūbō ). - In 1954 he published his famous illustrated book " Murō-ji ", which deals with this temple in the south of Nara prefecture . For this illustrated book he received the 9th Mainichi Publishing Culture Prize ( 毎 日 出版 文化 賞 , Mainichi shuppan bunka-shō ) the following year . This work also received the Achievement Award of the Photographic Society of Japan ( 日本 写真 協会 功 労 賞 , Nihon shashin kyōkai kōrōshō ). The volume "Hiroshima", which came out in 1958, received the 4th Mainichi Photography Prize ( 毎 日 写真 賞 ) and the 2nd Japan Photography Critics' Association Award ( 日本 写真 批評家 協会 賞 , Nihon shashin hihyōka kyōkai shō ). In 1959 he published a series in Camera Mainichi magazine entitled “Visits to old temples” ( 古寺 巡礼 , Koji junrei ), for which he was awarded.

Domon received the 10th Japan Professional Photographers 'Society Award ( 日本 写真 家 協会 年度 賞 , Nihon shashinka kyōkai nendo shō) and the 3rd Japan Journalists' Association Prize 1960 for "The Children of Chikuhō" ( 筑 豊 の 子 供 た ち , Chikuhō no kodomotachi ). In 1971 he received the 19th Kikuchi Kan Prize , named after writer and journalist Kikuchi Kan, for his four-part series, which he had started in 1963 and which, as the earlier one was called “Visits to Old Temples”, was awarded the 19th Kikuchi Kan Prize . In 1972 he was made an honorary member of the Japan Professional Photographers' Association. His “Hiroshima” collection is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art , New York. In 1974 he became the first honorary citizen of his hometown Sakata. - 1980 Domon was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun excellent.

In 1983 the "Ken Domon Museum of Photography" ( 土 門 拳 記念 館 , Domon Ken kinenkan ) was opened in Sakata , for which the architect Taniguchi Yoshirō was awarded the Prize of the Japanese Academy of Arts in 1987.

Remarks

1. ↑ Arus (from Latin Ars) is a Japanese publisher of photo magazines.
2. ↑ Chikuhō ( 筑 豊 ) is an area in Fukuoka Prefecture . The name arose from the amalgamation of the old province of Chikuzen and the province of Buzen , where Bu here is read Hō.

literature

• Domon Ken. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, Tokyo 1993, ISBN 9784062059381 , p. 294.
• Domon Ken. In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha International, Tokyo 1981, ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .

Web links

• Domon Ken Museum

• Domon Ken at MoMA

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Domon is the family name, Ken is the first name.