They are not photographs. They are Taro Okamoto’s eye. They are what he saw, and provide us with an image of the man that was Taro Okamoto.

‘They have an solid sense of presence, a figurative power of form. The timing is so perfect that they make a mockery of the term ‘crucial moment’ that is so often used in connection with photography. They truly represent a single moment, the glimpse of a firework, purity.’ (Toshiko Okamoto)

From the 1950s to 1960s Taro hung several cameras around his neck as he traveled around Japan, taking a huge number of photographs. These were not just records of things that he made as an alternative to sketching, but neither were they created as ‘works’. He was simply moved by things that he saw and devoted himself to photographing them.

The things that Okamoto’s gaze captured have become fixed, and can truly be described as ‘the eye of Taro Okamoto’. They are engraved with the atmosphere of primordial Japan and represent a valuable record that can never be reproduced.

This exhibition will introduce the variety of photographs taken by Taro Okamoto, and we hope that you will come to experience the ‘Taro’s gaze.’