Daily Photographs 1999–2021 - Ryudai Takano

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Takano Ryudai: Daily Photographs 1999–2021, held at The National Museum of Art, Osaka, June 29–September 23, 2021.

Takano Ryudai (b. 1963) is widely recognized as a photographer who deals with the themes of gender and sexuality. In the 2005 photo book In My Room, for which he received the Kimura Ihei Photo Award, Takano set out to visualize the ambiguous zone that lies between binary notions of human sexuality such as woman and man, homosexual and heterosexual. At the same time, while making it a rule to take pictures every day without fail since 1998, Takano has undertaken a variety of experiments, and repeatedly examined institutionalized views, and the characteristics and limitations of the photographic medium. The project, called Daily Photographs, remains ongoing. In this exhibition, Takano’s first major solo exhibition at a museum, approximately 130 of the artist’s works will be presented chronologically. Along with Daily Photographs, which serves as the foundation for Takano’s practice, the exhibition will include the gender- and sexuality-themed works that won him prominence; Kasubaba, which focuses on uniquely Japanese chaotic cityscapes; Tokyo Tower, which makes use of fixed-point observation; and the shadow pieces, which Takano has devoted himself to since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Join us as we retrace the actual images and reflect on the changing thoughts of Takano Ryudai, one of the leading photographers of his generation.

first edition

stock number: NB450