FOTO ARSENAL WIEN To Host One of the Largest Daido Moriyama Retrospectives This Month
The exhibition will feature over 200 artworks, publications and rare audiovisual projections.
Summary
- FOTO ARSENAL WIEN to present a major Daido Moriyama retrospective in Vienna, Austria, running from January 31 – May 10, 2026
- Over 200 photographs, including the “Stray Dog, Misawa” (1971), alongside rare publications and projections will be on view
FOTO ARSENAL WIEN will present a retrospective exhibition for renowned Japanese photographer, Daido Moriyama. The exhibition, aptly titled Daido Moriyama: Retrospective will be one of the most comprehensive presentations of Moriyama’s work ever organized, featuring more than 200 photographs, 250 publication reproductions and rare audiovisual projections.
Born in Osaka in 1938 and trained as a graphic designer, Moriyama has spent over half a century documenting the streets of Japan. His work is deeply rooted in the tension between Japanese tradition and the rapid modernization following World War II, specifically the invasion of Western consumer culture. Moriyama became a pioneer of photographic practice through his signature style – grainy, out-of-focus and tilted snapshots – that challenged the traditional language of photography.
The retrospective follows three years of intensive archival research and focuses on Moriyama’s groundbreaking conceptual approach to media, tracing his career from early magazine contributions to his radical photobook Farewell Photography (1972) and his ongoing self-published project, Record.
A central highlight of the exhibition is the iconic 1971 photograph “Stray Dog, Misawa,” a work that has become a definitive symbol of Moriyama’s career and a decisive moment in photographic history. The image, depicting a mistrustful dog with unkempt fur illuminated by garish light, epitomizes the gritty, high-contrast black-and-white aesthetic for which he is most famous.
The Daido Moriyama: Retrospective exhibition will run from January 31 to May 10, 2026 at FOTO ARSENAL WIEN in Vienna. For more information, head over to the institute’s official website.
FOTO ARSENAL WIEN
Arsenalplatz Objekt 19
1030 Vienna, Austria
