Tsuchida, Hiromi 1939-

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TSUCHIDA, Hiromi 1939-

PERSONAL: Born December 20, 1939, in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Education: Fukui University, B.S., 1963; Tokyo College of Photography, studied photography, 1965-68.

ADDRESSES: Home—3-16-23-D, Nishiazabu Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan 106.

CAREER: Pola Cosmetics Company, Yokohama, Japan, researcher, 1963-68, publicity manager, 1968-71; freelance photographer, Yokohama, Japan, 1971—; Tokyo College of Photography, Tokyo, Japan, instructor, 1972—, principal, 1992—. Established Nirvana Ltd. in 1989. Exhibitions: Work included at Tokyo Sogo Institute of Photography, Yokohama, Japan; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Visual Studio Workshop, Rochester, New York; George Eastman House, Rochester; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; Center Georges Pompidou, Paris; Bibliotheque National, Paris; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; and Kawasaki Art Museum, Kawasaki, Japan. Solo exhibitions include Shizuoka Industrial Hall, Shizuoka, Japan, 1964; Minoruta Gallery, Tokyo, 1978, Gallery DB-S, Antwerp, Belgium, 1989; and Nikon Salons, Tokyo and Osaka, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1993, and 1994.

AWARDS, HONORS: Newcomer's Prize, Camera Jidai, 1967; Grand Prize, Taiyo Magazine, 1971; Nobuo Ina Award, 1978.

WRITINGS:

Zokushin: Gods of the Earth, introduction by Goichi Matsunaga, Ottos Books (Yokohama, Japan), 1976.

Hiroshima: 1945-1978, edited by Tatsuo Shirai, Asahi Sonorama (Tokyo, Japan), 1979.

Tokyo Dolls, Siebun (Tokyo, Japan), 1981.

Hiroshima No Akashi, Iwanami Shoten (Tokyo, Japan), 1982.

Testimonies of Hiroshima, [Tokyo, Japan], 1982.

Sanctuaries of Japan-Ise Shrine, [Japan], 1982.

Jinguu to Iseji, Kosei Shuppansha (Tokyo, Japan), 1982.

Hiroshima, Kosei Publishing (Tokyo, Japan), 1983, 1985.

Zen, [Japan], 1988.

Ise Shrine, [Japan], 1988.

The Road to North Japan, [Japan], 1989.

Counting Grains of Sand, Tosei (Japan), 1990.

Party, I.P.C. Publishing (Japan), 1990.

Hiroshima Monument II, Tosei (Japan), 1995.

Hiroshima Collection, NHK Publishing, 1995.

SIDELIGHTS: Japanese photographer Hiromi Tsuchida's photographs are mainly on the subject of Japan and its people. In Contemporary Photographers, Tsuchida commented, "You could say that my photographs constitute a type of visual 'Japanology.' The reason I have focused upon folk culture in particular is that it most clearly expressed itself in visual terms. Another motive lies in the fact that I myself am a product of that culture."

Zokushin: Gods of the Earth is a collection of Tsuchida's photographs of people all over Japan, especially in rural areas, participating in cultural celebrations, ceremonies, and festivals. In Contemporary Photographers Tsuchida noted of his photographs in Zokushin, "I suppose what I was trying to do was to find myself again as Japanese."

Since 1975 Tsuchida has been documenting the results of the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima during World War II. He photographs how Hiroshima's scenery has changed as a result of the bomb and how Hiroshima's people now look and live. His documentation has been performed in three parts. From 1975-78 Tsuchida interviewed and photographed people who survived the bomb. From 1978-79 he photographed the Hiroshima landscape within a three-kilometer radius of where the bomb landed. Since 1980 he has shown his resulting photographs and documents at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

He is not certain what he will photograph next and when. "As for the future, I myself am not sure in which direction the camera will turn; but basically the crux of my photography will continue to be an investigation into Japanese culture and the Japanese people," Tsuchida expressed in Contemporary Photographers.