Japanese Photographs from the Bibliothèque nationale de France — Scenes, Signs, Sensations

Organized for the bicentenary of photography, this exhibition traces 80 years of Japanese photographic practice through approximately 300 works: 250 mostly black-and-white prints and around 50 rare books from the BnF collections. Featuring about 100 artists, it explores documentary realism, unusual views of everyday life, staged bodies, Japanese photographers’ visions of Paris, calligraphic abstraction, and atmospheric approaches to nature. The presentation includes work by Ishiuchi Miyako alongside major and lesser-known figures in modern and contemporary Japanese photography.

Eriko Koga, Asakusa Zenzai: Hana and Zen, 2003-2006 - Courtesy of the artist and The Third Gallery Aya