36 – Daido Moriyama

Japan (1938)
Pretty Woman
Façade Hôtel des Trois Couronnes
Outdoor

A living legend in photography and pioneer of street photography, Daido Moriyama has been roaming Tokyo for over 60 years. Known for his sharply contrasting black-and-white shots, he favours spontaneity. In the Pretty Woman series, he combines colour and black and white to revisit the capital’s neighbourhoods between 2016 and 2017. To coincide with his retrospective at Photo Elysée in Lausanne, the Biennale Images Vevey and Photo Elysée are presenting a monumental installation of an iconic photograph: a close-up of a mannequin wearing sunglasses, reflecting urban life and a self-portrait of the photographer. In the age of AI-generated images, this photo raises doubts about its nature. Repositioned in Vevey, the photograph becomes a monumental mise en abyme, a tribute to Moriyama’s style and to beauty in the ordinary.

Exhibition layout and design by Images Vevey and the artist
In coproduction with Photo Elysée
Curators: Nathalie Herschdorfer and Stefano Stoll
In collaboration with the Hôtel des Trois Couronnes

The Biennale Images Vevey and Photo Elysée are presenting the installation Pretty Woman to coincide with the exhibition ‘Daido Moriyama. A retrospective’ presented by Photo Elysée in Lausanne from 6 September 2024 to 23 February 2025.