Uno dei più straordinari e influenti libri nella storia della fotografia, citato in “Photobook a History I” di Parr\Edger e nel “The Book of 101 Books,” di Andrew Roth. Un capolavoro che spinge all’estremo tutti i “limiti” dell’immagine, rispecchiando sia i tempi politicamente travagliati in Giappone tra gli anni 60 e i 70 sia la straordinaria abilità di Moriyama di decostruire un linguaggio lasciandolo allo stesso tempo intatto.
In merito racconta Moriyama stesso:
“The book Farewell Photography was put together when I was questioning everything. Photography seemed to be something besides what it was seen to be. So the photos where made when I was excessively caught up in a desire to deconstruct photography. I wasn’t satisfied with the works that I was shooting, and I also felt doubtful about the world of Japanese photography that surrounded me. I questioned everything and was always irritated. Moreover, Provoke had just endend, and I had the urge to take photography to the limit. So I included photos with no subject and the ones with scratches all over, which had been stepped on in the darkroom. The book comprises such works. When that book was made, most people denied it as real photography and didn’t approve, but it was what I wanted to do. The only person who praised the book then was Nobuyoshi Araki. In the end photography wasn’t deconstructed. In a way, I was the one who was deconstructed, because I wasn’t able to take photographs normally after that. But I couldn’t say “farewell “ to photography. Loooking back, I feel that I was young and thoughtless. But I’m glad that I did it.”
