Tokyo can be a drag. At least if you are a photographer trying to tackle what can appear on the surface as one of the most unphotogenic cities in the world. A scarcity of obviously iconic buildings, combined with cramped, crowded and twisted spaces — usually crisscrossed with unsightly wires and hemmed in by humdrum, functional architecture encrusted with garish advertising guff — present a unique challenge.
If a photographer can make it here, they can make it anywhere. But getting to the top can be a lifetime's work, as proven by the career of Yutaka Takanashi, showcased in "Field Notes of Light," a major retrospective running till March 8 at the Museum of Modern Art Tokyo.
With almost 300 photographs, mainly detailing aspects of Tokyo since the 1960s, the first impression is of a bewildering array of images — some eye-catching, others intriguing, but also a great many dull and pointless. Taken together, though, they tell a fascinating tale of an innovative photographer who struggled with, and occasionally mastered, his unruly subject matter.