BIOTOP in Tokyo and Osaka will be holding a photo exhibition by photographer Nogami Masahiro, "BLUE: Tokyo 1968-1972." The exhibition will run from May 19th to 30th at BIOTOP in Shirokanedai, Tokyo, and from June 15th to 26th at BIOTOP OSAKA in Minami-Horie, Osaka.


This exhibition features black-and-white works taken by Nogami, who was born in Tokyo in 1947 and moved to the United States alone in 1974, spending over 30 years there, between the ages of 21 and 25. For this exhibition, Nogami himself selected approximately 40 works from the vast collection of more than 4,000 photographs included in the iPad photo book app "Snapshot Diary," released in 2014.

The exhibition title, "BLUE," is taken from the title of a Joni Mitchell album that Nogami enjoyed listening to, and expresses the state of mind he experienced at the time, as he spent his youth in Tokyo in the late 1960s and early 1970s, feeling anxious about the future. Contrary to this gloomy mood, the photographs capture scenes from 1968 to 1972, when the young Nogami, before moving to the United States, was compelled to record daily photographs. The images of Ginza, Harajuku, Omotesando, Shibuya, and Roppongi, as well as musicians such as Happy End, artists from various genres, and friends, are all captivating, vividly and quietly conveying the cultural scene of the time.


To commemorate the opening of this exhibition, a special talk show featuring Nogami Masahiro and musician Hosono Haruomi will be held at "irving place" on the third floor of BIOTOP from 5pm on the first day of the event, May 19th. The two, who are old friends and attended the same high school and university, will look back on various scenes from Tokyo between 1968 and 1972, the theme of the photo exhibition, and share stories from that time.

Four types of T-shirts (8,000 yen each) designed based on Nogami's works will also be available in limited quantities as exclusive BIOTOPE products. Furthermore, a newly edited new photo book, "BLUE: Tokyo 1968-1972" (4,800 yen), consisting of approximately 190 black-and-white photographs, including works on display, will be available for pre-sale at BIOTOP.