Collecting Japanese photography: prints, photobooks and what to look for

Twenty years ago, Japanese photography was collected by a small circle of specialists. Today it is one of the most sought-after fields in photography. This is a plain guide to what is being collected, what to check before buying, and where a living artist's new editions fit in.

Why Japanese photography is collected

Two things changed the market. The first was the rediscovery of the Japanese photobook. When Martin Parr and Gerry Badger published *The Photobook: A History* from 2004, and Manfred Heiting and Ryuichi Kaneko surveyed *The Japanese Photobook, 1912–1990* in 2017, books that had been almost unknown outside Japan became objects of international desire. Books of the Provoke era, printed in small runs, are now among the rarest in the field.

The second was the photographers themselves: Daido Moriyama, Shomei Tomatsu, Nobuyoshi Araki, Hiroshi Sugimoto and many others, whose work is now held by the world's major museums. Around them sits a larger generation of photographers — many of them trained in advertising and design — whose work is only now being looked at again. Ikki Mitsuhashi belongs to that generation; our article from the design desk to the darkroom tells the story.

Three things you can collect

Vintage prints were made by or for the photographer close to the time the picture was taken. They are the rarest and the most expensive, and they need the most care in authentication.

Later and modern prints are made afterwards, often in numbered editions, from the original negative or a scan of it. Most photographs sold by living artists today are of this kind, and so is every print on this site.

Photobooks are often the most direct way to own a Japanese photographer's work as they intended it to be seen. A first edition in good condition, with its obi (the paper band) and slipcase where there was one, is worth far more than a later printing.

Seven things to check before you buy

• The edition. How many prints of this picture exist, at this size? An honest seller states the total and the number of your print, and never reissues a sold number. Our note on how to read an edition number explains ours.
• The size — of the sheet and of the image. Two prints called "A2" can have very different image areas. Ask for both, in millimetres.
• The process and paper. A gelatin silver print, a chromogenic colour print and an archival pigment print are different objects, with different lifespans. Pigment on cotton paper is the most permanent of the colour processes; what is an archival pigment print explains why.
• The signature. Is it in the artist's hand, an estate stamp, or a printed facsimile? None is wrong, but each should be named plainly.
• The certificate. It should name the work, the edition, the number, the size, the paper and the date, and it should travel with the print.
• Provenance. Where has the picture been sold before, and is there a record? A picture with no history is not necessarily a problem; a history that cannot be checked is.
• Condition. Look at the corners, the surface under raking light, and the back of the sheet. Ask how it will be shipped. Ours travel rolled in rigid tubes.

Where a living artist's new edition fits

Buying directly from a living artist, or from the studio that represents him, is the most straightforward way to begin. The price is set by the artist, the edition is recorded from the first number, and the provenance begins with you.

The Tropical Garden prints on this site show what that looks like in practice. Each is an archival pigment print on cotton paper, in a numbered edition that continues the ledger the artist kept by hand when the series was first sold through Art Gallery Closet in Tokyo in the 2000s. Prices run from ¥27,000 for the smallest sheet to ¥58,000 for the largest, 18 × 24 inches. The artist will sign by hand for ¥4,000. Every print carries a bilingual certificate.

A test print of What the Leaves Keep, checked at dusk above Sagami Bay.

The same picture, framed.

Buying across borders

Prints on this site are priced and charged in Japanese yen; prices shown in other currencies are estimates. Prints are shipped from Japan with tracking and insurance. Import duty and tax, where they apply, are paid by the buyer at the destination. Domestic prices include Japanese consumption tax, and export sales carry none.

A place to begin

If you are new to collecting, begin with what you would want to live with, not with what you think will rise in value. Look at the picture every day for a week — on a screen, then, if you can, on paper. Our gallery wall hangs every work at the size it is printed, so you can judge scale before choosing, and the collection shows the next number available in every edition.

Sources

• Steidl, The Japanese Photobook, 1912–1990
• Phaidon, *The Photobook: A History*, Martin Parr and Gerry Badger (2004–2014)
• 1854 Photography, the story of Japanese photobooks, 1912–1990