Daido Moriyama On the Nature of Photography
Photography, in its very essence, does not create something from nothing.
It is a device that copies existing images.
If we begin from this assumption of copying, we can move closer to understanding the true nature of photography.
The Contradiction at the Heart of the Photograph
There is no real meaning in trying to create artwork purely through one’s own aesthetics or concepts.
And yet, when people take photographs, their memories and personal sensibilities are always present within the image.
This creates an everlasting contradiction.
Still, this contradiction is acceptable.
A Scattered World
The world is not a single, unified entity.
It is scattered.
Photography simply copies these scattered worlds, and through that act of copying, we are forced to ask again what photographs truly are.
The Image In Between
Realism by itself is not exciting, and neither is conceptual or aesthetic art.
What matters instead is the space in between—the world of the copy.
This in-between image is what photography must confront.
Against Originality
Photography has no originality.
Please do not say, “this is art.”
If you have a camera, you can make a copy.
Photography is not an activity monopolized by professionals.
Any amateur can be as good as a professional.
However, unfortunately, the Japanese amateur photographer’s world became more and more professionally oriented, and there is no longer any essence, and it became shitty.
