Mr. Etsuro Ishihara was awakended to photography in 1976 when he joined a project at Nihon University on the concept of ‘Collecting Photography’. Subsequently, after some trips to New York and Europe, within two years he opened up his Gallery, Zeit Photo Salon (named after the morning paper he would read during his time studying in Germany). Zeit was the first gallery in Japan to specialise in the exhibition and sale of photography as art. Despite the fact that he was overlooked for many years he continued to pursue his cause and in the last three decades is responsible for making the names of the majority of the most internationally acclaimed Japanese Photographers from the 20th Century including Eikoh Hosoe, Daido Moriyama, Noboyushi Araki, Shoji Ueda and Toshio Shibata to name a few. Mr Ishihara’s Photographic Collection has recently been exhibited at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, and Phillips de Pury & Company is honoured to offer for sale some highlights from his Japanese works. This selection of works offers an insight in to the quality and tenacity of Ishihara’s eye for photography. From rare early vintage Araki and Ueda to contemporary works by Shibata. Ishihara is a true pioneer of Japanese Photography and beyond.
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ETSURO ISHIHARA, TOKYO