Go See This: William Klein and Daido Moriyama

William Klein

BIG art week in London this week, what with Frieze London and the new Frieze Masters shows opening and lots of galleries doing the art equivalent of putting on their best frocks.

More on Frieze later but firstly add the Tate Modern William Klein and Daido Moriyama show to your must-see list. Remember Jane talked about black and white inspiration recently? Well much of that (we reckon) would have come from William Klein’s original photography, just look at the image above. Klein worked closely with Diane Vreeland (truly, the woman of the moment) and is responsible for some iconic fashion images from the 50s and 60s.

William Klein

I knew less of Moriyama’s work but it is just as striking, both men shot everything they saw in a snap-it-and-hope kinda way and there are some absorbing shots of Tokyo and Japan from the same early period that are completely captivating, you just want to eat up every detail. If money was no object I’d buy one of his Polaroid/Polaroid 1997 polaroid collages. Thrillingly, both photographers were at the opening night and eldest son, who is a photography student actually had his photo taken by Mr Klein, who snapped away all night long from the safety of his mobility vehicle.

William Klein

William Klein

Daido Moriyama

Below you can see Mr Klein and Mr Moriyama smiling for the bank of Japanese photographers (and us) who paid homage to the pair on opening night. The exhibition is on at the Tate Modern until end Jan 2013, more here

Daido Moriyama and William Klein at Tate Modern October 2012

 

1 Comment

  • Just saw this on Friday – really a great exhibition and hope to go a few more times between now and when it finishes. I also preferred Klein’s work but I loved Moriyama’s Polaroid montages

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