Toshio Shibata - 1987

Toshio Shibata
1987

Published by Deadbeat Club, 2025
Size: 22.8 x 17.7 cm
40 pages
Soft cover
ISBN 978-1-952523-29-8

Published by Los Angeles-based Deadbeat Club, “1987” features a series of black-and-white photographs taken by Japanese photographer Toshio Shibata in Cappadocia, Turkey, and along the western agricultural road of Aswan, Egypt. These visits were part of a series of four trips to the Middle East preceding the 1989 World Design Expo in Nagoya, Japan.

Shot with a Linhof Super Technika 4x5 camera, Shibata's photographs exude a sense of presence and detail that is fascinating to observe. Although less than forty years have passed since these photographs were taken, the world they depict has largely disappeared.

“Perhaps it was because of the camera I was using, or perhaps because they were curious to see the foreigner I was, but when I pointed my camera at them, people on the other side of the canal gathered and struck spontaneous poses. Some even came to my side and gestured for me to take more.

Looking back, it's fascinating to see the interest in cameras, the eyes directed towards my lenses, and that era of people about 40 years ago - before the Arab Spring and before smartphones; but at the same time, it reminds me of my confusion when I was photographing in these countries for the first time."

- excerpt from the foreword by Toshio Shibata