What is photography? For the past decade, that has been the fundamental theme that the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography has pondered while seeking to foster discovery and appreciation of photography. As one of the few museums in the world specializing in photography, it is not enough for us to collect, conserve, and exhibit photographs. Aware that our museum must also function as a center for the culture of photography in Japan, we have defined our mission as delving more deeply into that fundamental question: What is photography? We have organized this exhibition into a three-part structure based on the techniques and media used in works in the museum's collection:
Part 1: Creating with Light: Manipulated Photographs
Part 2: The Pencil of Nature: Technique and Style
Part 3: The Eye of the Machine: Camera and Lens
The techniques used in Part 1 will, of course, be applied in combination with those in Part 2 and Part 3. Moreover, a stringent categorization of these photographs is not possible, or, in fact, necessary. Visitors to this exhibition will, we hope, realize that it is possible to combine a variety of techniques to create one work of photographic art.