The development of the art and technique of photography in the Land of the Rising Sun is based on the same philosophical and aesthetic principles as the traditional culture of Japan, and its connection with Japanese engraving and other fine arts is obvious.

Japan Keywords:, photography, photo equipment, culture

Japan remains the main producer of photographic equipment in the world. Most of the largest players in the photographic equipment market, such as Konica, Minolta, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Mamiya, Sony, Pentax, Tamron, Sigma and Kenko, appeared in the Japanese archipelago.

PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PHENOMENON OF JAPANESE CULTURE

Japanese people are very fond of taking pictures. There are several reasons for this. After all, photography is the same attempt to reflect the moment, the moment, as is typical of Buddhist philosophy. It was a single moment of life that served as the basis for the ukiyo-e prints. In part, photography has taken over the functions of these prints in modern Japanese society.

Visibility is the most important principle of photography, and visuality is one of the key elements of Japanese perception of life. Tsukimi (admiring the moon), hanami (admiring the cherry blossom), shiki (perceiving 4 seasons), and observing nature and the surrounding world occupy a large place in Japanese culture. Naturally, this could not but be reflected in photography as a new art form. Photographers often choose few subjects or themes, but bring the skill of shooting their favorite subject to perfection.

Examples include the works of Manabu Watanabe, who takes a bird's-eye view of Japan ¹; Rocky Tanaka, who specializes in photographs of Mount Fuji ²; and Yuji Saiga, who since 1974 has made the main subject of his photographs the abandoned Hashima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture, better known as Gunkanjima ("Warship Island") ³.

NORIO KOBAYASHI

Film photography reached its peak of popularity in the late 1980s. In the beginning of the XXI century, the situation changed dramatically. In 2002, digital camera production surpassed that of film cameras. The market for development materials and film cameras themselves has noticeably declined, and, accordingly, the choice of types of photo works has also decreased. So, for example, it became impossible to find infrared film and silver-bromine paper. So now photos created with materials that are technically "outdated" have become very valuable.

The term "digitography" was coined by Japanese art critic Iizawa Kotaro4. And the founder of digital art in Japan is considered to be Norio Kobayashi.

Born in 1952 in the family of a dentist, after graduating from high school, on the advice of his parents, he entered a dental college. However, Kobayashi became interested in photography at an early age, and the passion was so strong that he left school and devoted himself entirely to photography.

Since 1975, he has participated in exhibitions held in Japan, the USA, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea and other countries. In 1981, Kobayashi's first solo exhibition was held in Tokyo, and in 1986, his first author's album "Japanese Landscapes"was released. The photographer's accumulated experience over the years is in demand at several Japanese universities, where Kobayashi teaches the basics of photography.

* Ukiyo-e prints are the main type of woodcut in Japan. This art form became popular in the urban culture of Edo (modern Tokyo) in the second half of the 17th century.

He made his first "digital images" in 1997 using a compact digital camera. At the same time, Kobayashi opened the site ⁵, where he began to regularly show his work. His series is best known both in Japan and abroad: Japanese Blue and Digital Kitchen.

At first, the "Digital Kitchen" was a kind of experiment. However, as the number of photos that make up it grew, the series began to take the form of a "Diary". As a result of many years of work on this project, a huge amount of footage has formed an amazing, elegant, touching "performance", recorded in hundreds of images, the action of which takes place in the photographer's house - in the kitchen. The set for this "performance" was a lively interior - kitchen utensils, dishes, food, and the only character - the artist's wife.

For the first time, the photo series "Digital Kitchen" took its rightful place next to analog photos of other famous Japanese photographers at the exhibition "Photography Today-2" held at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo in June-August 2002.Work on the series continues today.

Norio Kobayashi is confident that the role of photography in this century will significantly expand, and while retaining its reporting value, it will occupy a large niche in contemporary art.

JAPAN DOES NOT STAND ASIDE

Global trends in the development of photography do not bypass Japan. So, lomography has become popular in the country - a type of photography in which the artistic value is not each individual frame, but the number of photos that are not necessarily united by a theme, place, event or mood. It is also shooting "from the hip", without using a viewfinder, as a rule-a simple automatic film machine. Interestingly, the term "lomography" comes from the name of the camera manufacturer-the Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Association (LOMO). There is even a World Lomographic Society6 with offices in many countries, including Japan - Lomography Japan⁷.

The Japanese camera was the basis for the device that created this trend in modern photography. In 1984, LOMO launched mass production of the first domestic compact automatic camera "LOMO compact-automat", which was copied from the Japanese device "COSINA CX-2", presented at the international exhibition of film and photographic equipment in Cologne ⁸.

It is believed that the approach to shooting and exhibiting a number of "digital photographers" and" lomographs " is very similar in many ways: free compo-

composition, simple plots without focusing on " hot " material, involuntary shooting offhand... But there are also differences: "digital photographers" usually do not shoot "everything in a row", but make a photo collection on one topic. It is mandatory to continuously reproduce the footage on the author's websites, as Kobayashi does. One of the most famous Japanese photographers - Nobuyoshi Araki, who works in the genre of "photo series", has already published more than 250 albums.

WOMEN-FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY!

Traditional-film-photography in Japan continues to be mainly engaged in men, and digital has become the" lot " of women. According to the Japanese researcher Filbert Ono, " photography has become of genuine interest to many young Japanese women who, by entering photo schools, winning photo contests, participating in exhibitions, and publishing photo albums, eventually become professional photographers. Filming became extremely fashionable among women, and many female pop idols began to flaunt their hobby. " ⁹

Adherence to a particular genre is also partly related to gender. So, male photographers often turn to erotic subjects (Araki Nobuyoshi, Kishina Shinoyama). In turn, high school girls, armed with inexpensive "soap boxes" and "DSLRs", began to conduct photo days, shooting everything in a row. And older women are interested in fashion, nature, children, home comfort, which is depicted in photos in women's magazines.

PHOTO CONTEST CULTURE

Most often, the main prize in various competitions in Japan is holding an exhibition free of charge for the author or publishing his works, which is very important for a novice photographer. Many magazines also regularly hold photo contests for their readers.

Among the most valuable awards for winning Japanese photographers are the Domon Ken Prize from the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper and the Kimura Ihei Prize, which is sponsored by Mainichi's main competitor, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. The Domon Ken ¹⁰ Prize is awarded to recognized artists, and the Kimura Ihei ¹¹ Prize is awarded to young photographers for achievements (exhibitions, albums) in the past year.

Another important competition is the New Age of Photography, which has been held since 1991 and is sponsored by Canon. Many of its winners later became famous photographers.

The 1_WALL Hitotsubo 12 exhibition competition, hosted by Tokyo's Guardian Garden Gallery, has become a launching pad for a number of major photographers.

One of the most important factors in the formation of the information society was the transformation of the communication space, the transition from a sign to an image (image), the so-called "iconic turn". This image carries more information than a traditional letter.

Japan is considered the first country to make the transition from a post-industrial society to an information society. Moreover, it was the Japanese who introduced the term "information society" ("je: hye:ka xiakai"). In turn, the importance of photography as a photo text - an integral attribute of this stage of society's development - continues to grow, and Japan continues to remain at the forefront of the development of the photo industry.

¹ Japan. Tokyo, 2006, No. 37.

² Ibid., 2005, No. 35, pp. 4-7.

³ http://www.ne.jp/asahi/saiga/yuji/me-nu/menu-e.html

⁴ Foto&Video. M., 2005, N 11 - http://www.foto-video.ru/news_detail.php?SID-44&1D=1414

⁵ Website of N. Kobayashi - www.artbow.com

⁶ http://www.lomography.com/

⁷ http://www.lomography.jp/home/

⁸ http://www.photohistory.ru/LK.html

⁹ http://photoguide.Jp/w/index.phpVtitle=Japan_Photo History&oldid-4264

¹⁰ http://www.domonken-kinenkan.jp/bunka-kekka.html

¹¹ http://www.asahi.com/culture/upda-te/0308/TKY201003080415.html

¹² http://rcc.recruit.co.jp/gg/hitotuho/hitotubo.html

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