Yasui Nakaji: Japanese Photographers Series vol.9 Nakaji Yasui

*Available only in Europe

*This book is secondhand.

Part of Iwanami Shoten's "Japanese Photographers" series, this monograph traces the work of Nakaji Yasui (1903-1942), a photographer active in prewar Kansai who died at just 38, through plates of his key works accompanied by commentary and a chronology. Born into a wealthy Osaka paper-wholesaling family, Yasui joined the Naniwa Photography Club in the 1920s and the Tampei Photography Club in 1930, becoming a central figure in the Kansai photography scene while still young. His output resists any single style: he moved freely from early Pictorialism to straight photography, photomontage and street snapshots, embracing every kind of image without prejudice. Works such as "Wandering Jews," documenting Jewish refugees who fled Nazi persecution to Kobe, and his "Yamane Circus Troupe" series reveal an unshowy technique and a compassionate gaze toward those on society's margins. Admired by later photographers including Ken Domon and Daido Moriyama, Yasui is served here by a compact yet authoritative introduction that remains a basic reference on his art.