shashasha

Its title perhaps a reference to Bruce Gilden’s famous definition of street photography (“If you can smell the street by looking at the photo then it’s a street photograph”), Hiroyoshi Yamazaki’s photobook “Smell on the Street” presents color photographs taken in Tokyo between 1987 and 1990. As Yamazaki reveals in the afterword, this was a turbulent and difficult time for him: rising success as a member of Daido Moriyama’s FotoSession group, important exhibitions and magazine series, but also tragedy within his family.

His photographs capture Tokyo in one of its most iconic, most otherworldly periods: the late Bubble Era years of the 1980s. People were either making money or missing out on making money, and much of life took place in public, on the streets. After more than 40 years, Yamazaki’s photographs possess an almost historical value, but the reason his images are so fascinating lies in his strong ability to convey an atmosphere or a vibe instead of only sharing scenes captured by his camera. Although the pictures may now seem of an almost otherworldly Tokyo, Yamazaki kept his pictures real and realistic, decided to focus on the constant minute negotiations that take place as part of social life in the city. So, is this street photography? Your nose will know.