Portrait world behind the camera
Noshinobu Shinohama dies
In 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were walking in Central Park. The cool breeze of New York in late autumn is blowing, and between snuggling, the two kiss affectionately.
Click, the shutter sounds, and a classic piece is engraved.
Forty-four years later, on January 4, the Japanese photographer who took this photograph, Norinobu Shinohyama, died in Tokyo at the age of 83.
He began studying photography at a Japanese university in the 60s, and held solo exhibitions a few years before his death. Shinoyama has never put down his camera in his life.
Many of his works have become heirlooms.
For example, he insisted on photographing female students for decades and used "Weekly Asahi" as a cover. There are also many portraits from "Santa Fe" to "Maiden's Pavilion" in the 90s.
Mr. and Mrs. Lennon, Yukio Mishima, Momoe Yamaguchi, Chiaki Kuriyama...... There are so many names associated with this portrait master.
Shinoyama said that he was not the kind of person to look back, and that he pressed the shutter just to record the present.
01
Portrait in viewfinder
Shinoyama's eternal pursuit
Photographer Noshinobu Shinoyama started shooting very early.
Since the 70s, he has published photos in the monthly magazine "Star", documenting the process of many people from obscurity to success.
At the time of photographing Momoe Yamaguchi, the future "No. 1 idol in Japan" was only 14 years old, and he was still a rookie singer who had just debuted.
But in Shinoyama's view, unlike the lively posture of other girls, the quiet Yamaguchi seems to have a special melancholy, which is a beauty that belongs to her.
Faced with such a young and innocent girl, Shinoyama lightly named the photobook "Baihui".
Without any superfluous adjectives, shimizu hibiscus, naturally carved.
"[People's] faces are funny, aren't they?" he said, "They remind the audience of a lot of things, from the atmosphere of the time, to the details of the time." ”
In his eyes, there is always a unique beauty in front of the camera, and the moment the photographer presses the shutter, it is a record of eternity.
In 1991, Noshinobu Shinoyama took a photo of 18-year-old Rie Miyazawa, and it took him three days to complete the work "Santa Fe", which was named after the filming location of Santa Fe in the United States.
Miyazawa is depicted in a variety of poses, with a youthful body blending with the barren, fiery colors of New Mexico.
The price of this set of photos is 4,500 yen, which was not cheap at the time, but it was still sold out. There have even been reports of secondary school students cutting back on food and clothing just to save money to buy it.
Santa Fe sold 1.65 million copies, making it the highest-selling photo book of all time and ranked No. 7 on the list of all books in 1991.
In the 90s, he also photographed the photo album "Waterfruit, the Unexpected State of Events" for Higuchi Konanko, which also entered the top 10 bestsellers of the year.
His love for portraits, Noribu Shinoyama never stopped.
He was invited to shoot the cover of Weekly Asahi, and the protagonist of each issue was a young schoolgirl.
From its first issue in 1980 until its announcement in 2023, his lens has documented the changing trends of young women in Japan over the decades.
Of course, there is also "Maiden's Hall", which is regarded as a classic of portrait photography by many enthusiasts.
Among them, many of the girl models who participated in the shooting have become well-known symbols in the film and television industry in the future, such as Chiaki Kuriyama, Ryoko Hirosue, and Hoshiro Ogura.
02
From Lennon to Yukio Mishima
The end of life in the photo
This series of group photographs of John Lennon and Yoko Ono is probably one of the best-known works of Noshinobu Shinoyama.
In 1980, while in Los Angeles at the time, he received a call from Lennon asking if he was free to shoot in New York for two days, and Shinoyama readily agreed.
Lennon invited him to shoot the cover of his current album "Double Fantasy", which was also the last album he and his wife Yoko collaborated on.
But at the time, apparently no one could have predicted this outcome.
For most of his time in New York, Shinoyama spent time in the studio, filming the Lennon couple at work, but this famous photograph was done outdoors.
After a long day of work that day, Yoko proposes to go for a walk in Central Park, not with any staff, just the three of them.
At some point during this period, Shinoyama photographed the Lennons kissing, and he said, "I think this must be their happiest moment, and I am the one who recorded it." ”
Born in 1940, Kinobu Shinoyama and John Lennon were both 40 years old, two artists at a turning point in their lives that sparked in New York in the 80s.
In Shinoyama's eyes, Lennon was very gentle and always spoke softly to him.
In a conversation between the two men, Lennon said that he was ready to forget all his past history and embrace a fresh beginning.
Just three months later, however, Lennon was assassinated on his doorstep.
Noshiyama Noranobu, who learned the news, silently changed the newly published photo to black and white to commemorate this close friend who has not known each other for a long time.
Like Lennon's story, Yukio Mishima's final years are also recorded by Noshinobu Shinoyama.
In 1970, Shinohama was commissioned by a writer to photograph the last days of his life.
Unlike Lennon's future accident, Mishima in the photo looks firm and determined, as if he has made all plans.
Two months later, Yukio Mishima, deeply disappointed with his times, broke into the headquarters of the Self-Defense Forces in Ichiga, Tokyo, and committed suicide by seppuku in his room.
In 1995, Noshinobu Shinohama, who revisited Mishima's former residence, took a new set of photos, the same staircase and scenery, but the same thing has long been different.
Shinoyama says that his philosophy of photography is to record what is felt in a moment. He's been doing just that for decades.
03
Embrace the changes of the times
The love for photography never stops
"Photographer" Noshinobu Shinoyama is not born with a love for cameras.
In 1940, Shinoyama was born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to a Buddhist family. His father, Akinobu Shinoyama, was the presiding officer of Toyoyama Enshoji Temple and died in World War II.
After finishing high school, like many of his peers, he still chose the orthodox route of studying and going to school. Unfortunately, his general college entrance exam ended in failure.
Impulsively, he enrolled in the Faculty of Art at Nihon University to study photography. However, Noshinobu Shinoyama, who accidentally walked on this road, showed amazing talent.
In 1961, before graduating from university, he won the APA Award from the Japan Advertising Photographers Association.
In 1966, he participated in the exhibition "10 Contemporary Photographers" at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and was the youngest of them all.
In the decades that followed, it was Shinoyama who created countless classics.
Despite his early fame, Shinoyama is not at all the kind of photographer who only sits in his study, on the contrary, he is a very trendy person. In his words, he is always "following the reader's feelings."
In the early days, when the paper media was developed, he photographed and published many portrait works in newspapers and magazines.
Later, when the digital age came, he did not hesitate to switch to the digital camera camp, praising the current technology - in the past, it was impossible to show the effect to the other side just after the shot.
His love for photography and his impulse to document this society were the original starting points of Kishinobu Shinoyama.
In 1975, he traveled solo throughout Japan, photographing countless houses and buildings from Tono City, Iwate Prefecture, in the northernmost part, to Taketomi Island in Okinawa in the south.
This set of works was exhibited at the Venice Biennale the following year under the title "Home".
In 1980, he published the Architectural Footsteps series, which photographed famous buildings from Ancient Egypt to New York. He also created his own technique, "Shinorama", in which multiple cameras are connected together to capture a panoramic view of people's lives.
Age is not an issue for Noshiyama Norinobu either. After the 2011 earthquake in Japan, he immediately picked up his camera and went to the disaster area and took countless precious photos.
After decades of career, how can you stick with it without such passion?
04
Embroiled in controversy
Still insist on yourself
However, in the eyes of many, Noshiyama's philosophy of photography is incompatible with secular concepts.
Readers familiar with Shinoyama's work will know that one of the major elements of his photography is the body of a young girl.
From "Santa Fe" and "Waterfruit" to "Maiden's House". But it also caused him a lot of criticism.
In 1999, Japan passed a new law restricting child pornography, and many of his previous works were implicated and forced to be removed from shelves.
In 2008, Noshinobu Shinoyama, who was taking photos on the streets of Tokyo, was charged by the police with blatant indecency because he was involved in nude shots of models. In the end, a fine of 300,000 yen was paid.
The changes of the times made Shinoyama Kishin seem a little at a loss. Because in his opinion, nudity has always been just an expression of feelings.
It can be said that the concern for people is the theme of his life's pursuit. In his lens, what is intertwined is the projection of the photographer's own heart.
Commenting on "Santa Fe," he says that there isn't a single erotic scene in it that would arouse desire.
And those business magazines, which only revolve around the word "nudity", label his work as such, "really bad".
No matter what the outside world thinks, Noshiyama Noranobu still insists on his own style and walks down.
In 2016, at the age of 76, he held his solo exhibition "La Vie en Rose" at the Art Salon in Aoyama, Tokyo. This time, it was Kiko Mizuhara, Hikaru Mitsushima, and Suzu Hirose, who became famous.
It's still a portrait, it's still a girl, it's still the most beautiful scene in Shinoyama's eyes.
Showa-born photographer Noshinobu Shinoyama is now quietly departing on a winter day in Reiwa. Musician, writer, movie star...... His life has been intersected with countless names.
And his works, as he has always believed, have become eternal since the day of his birth.