Setting Sun Writings By Japanese Photographers Jun 2026

Taki famously analyzed the work of Daido Moriyama and Yutaka Takanashi as a form of "biting into reality." He argued that the "setting sun" mentality—the loss of the war and the confusion of the post-war occupation—created a photographic language that was dark, muddy, and fragmented, rejecting the clear, objective "light" of Western documentary photography.

The primary feature you are looking for is likely Setting Sun: Writings by Japanese Photographers , a landmark anthology published by the Aperture Foundation setting sun writings by japanese photographers

In the mid-20th century, the "setting sun" took on a more literal and political meaning. The term Shayō-zoku (the people of the setting sun), popularized by Osamu Dazai’s literature, referred to the declining aristocracy after World War II. Taki famously analyzed the work of Daido Moriyama