This is my first Book Lives entry dedicated to Daido Moriyama and yet, the book I’ve chosen is one in color.
Yes, of course I see the irony.
The last time I counted, I probably have no fewer than 40 of Moriyama’s books and most, if not all, are in his signature black and white.
The fact that I have more Moriyama books than books by others should tell you something. But exactly what? I don’t know.
Is this Moriyama’s only color book? Nope, I don’t think so.
Can he see in color? Oh yes.
Does he photograph differently in color? Not really?
Does he pair his images differently in color? Not really?
If the exact set of images is presented in black and white, will you buy a copy? Probably.
Now, there is no need to ask if I like his works because that’s too obvious.
But do I really think I ought to stop buying them indiscriminately? Let’s just say that everytime before I checked out a copy of his book, I wondered about my sanity.
“Now, And Never Again” describes my feeling quite aptly.
After a while, I can’t help but to admit that I don’t buy his books to learn about anything that I don’t really know.
The simple answer is: I buy his books to remind myself to believe.
