Daidō Moriyama

Daidō Moriyama (born 1938) is one of Japan's most influential photographers, renowned for his raw, high-contrast, grainy black-and-white images that capture the gritty underbelly of urban life, particularly in Tokyo and other Japanese cities. His style, often described as 'are, bure, boke' (rough, blurred, out-of-focus), emerged in the 1960s and challenged conventional notions of photographic beauty, drawing inspiration from writers like Jack Kerouac and photographers such as William Klein. Moriyama's work, which spans streets, nightlife, sexuality, and post-war Japanese culture, has made him a defining figure in the history of photography and a major influence on generations of artists worldwide.