1987

Toshio Shibata

SHIPPING IN LATE MAY

40 Pages
B&W Duotone Offset
7” x 9”
ISBN: 978-1-952523-29-8

Special edition available here.

In anticipation of the 1989 World Design Exposition in Nagoya, legendary photographer Toshio Shibata was commissioned by the pioneering gallerist Etsuro Ishihara, founder of the Zeit-Foto Salon, to participate in a series of trips through Egypt and Turkey.

The photographs in this book are the direct outcome of that commission, all captured in 1987 during Shibata’s second visit to Turkey’s Cappadocia region and on a trip along Egypt’s Aswan Western Agricultural Road, which, following a canal on the left bank of the Nile, covers more than 400 miles between Cairo and Luxor. 

Made half a decade before his first publications and featuring a rare exploration of portraiture, the body of photographs presented in 1987 offers a unique and striking window into Shibata's early work. As Shibata found himself confronted with unfamiliar countries and landscapes, we can already distinguish some of the signature elements that would come to define his sought-after style, with a keen eye for the interweaving between the natural and man-made elements, and a masterful use of light.

Shibata’s work can be found in the permanent collections of museums worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate Modern; London; La Maison de la Photo Europeenne, Paris; TOP Museum Tokyo; and The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.