Kishin Shinoyama

Renowned for his sensual, provocative images, Kishin Shinoyama was one of Japan’s most controversial and acclaimed artists, at once hailed by critics and charged for public indecency.

Shinoyama was born in Tokyo in 1940. He began shooting award-winning advertising photography while still a student at Nihon University. After several years with the advertising agency Light Publicity, Shinoyama began working as an independent photographer in 1968. In the decades since, he took portraits of some of the most recognized people of our time, including Yukio Mishima, Momoe Yamaguchi, Rie Miyazawa, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono. 

Photographing everything from antiques to porn stars, Shinoyama was particularly recognized for his work with pop icons and celebrities, and the rare, private moments he captured with very public personalities. Through his lens, world-famous faces often reveal an unexpected openness and vulnerability.

This capacity for ease and intimacy is perhaps most poignantly expressed in Shinoyama's beautiful series of photographs of Yoko Ono and John Lennon, shot at Ono’s request for the cover and promotion of the couple’s celebrated 1980 album, Double Fantasy, just three months before Lennon’s untimely death. Now, decades later, the series' images — many of them never seen before — still resonate with a remarkable freshness and honesty, immortalizing the iconic couple at a pivotal moment in their personal and creative relationship.

In his “Gekisha” and “Shinorama” series, Shinoyama used the latest technologies to create new modes of expression. His digital multimedia project, “digi+KISHIN” brought a new perspective to both photography and cinema.

Find original Kishin Shinoyama photography on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by TASCHEN)