Koun no machi [The Fortunate Town] - La ville de la chance.

First edition. Numerous photographic plates. Japanese text. 4to. Original flexible boards in dustwrapper (very minor wear), overall a very good copy. 131pp. Tokyo, Shashin Koenrin,

Oshima Hiroshi was born in 1944 in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture. Originally a photo-critic Oshima became editor of 'Shashin Shochi' magazine (1980-86) which aimed to analyze photography in terms of it's cultural and social context. In 1987 he graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography and subsequently taught as Musashino Art University, Meiji Gakuin University and Kyushu Sangyo University. The remote area of Sanhei was famous for a number of peasant revolts and Oshima shows how the spirit of rebellion still shapes aspects of the identity of the region. The book  is divided into three chapters namely 'Fortunate Town' showing Morioka during the 1950s and 60s, 'Sanhei', and 'Spring and Fighting'. The title 'La ville de la chance' refers to a novel by Elie Wiesel which explores continuing realities of Anti-semitism in Eastern Europe. Oshima's analogy relates to historical prejudice that remains active in modern times. This is a complex book where images have multi-layered meanings. It won the first prize of the Society of Photography (shashin no kai) in 1989. Excellent book-design by Suzuki Hitoshi. Only two copies in OCLC.

Stock Code: 210165