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Historical Background
The early 1960s saw political struggle in Japan reach its high point. Triggered by the security pact (ANPO for short in Japanese) initiated between the USA and Japan, which had been signed in 1952 and was due for revision in 1960. The treaty would allow the US to maintain military bases in Japan. This event culminated in the ANPO protests that broke out mainly from 1959 to 1960. A majority of the left wing within Japan saw that it as a symbol of growing US influence on the Japanese political landscape. This was especially evident in universities at the time where a growing number of youths were becoming disillusioned with the political situation. Growing tired of the rigid standards imposed by the communist government that became dominant during the postwar period, up to the late 1950s, Japanese artists became increasingly frustrated. Coupled with the Japanese economic boom that saw the most significant change during the 1950s to 1970s, it was becoming increasingly more viable for artists to make a living off of their art alone.[1]

Along with the political turmoil, the 1960s saw the expansion of a number of artistic movements. Provoke was part of the photographic movement that arose out of the late 1960s, which was motivated by the opposition artists had felt towards the traditional powers of Japan. Now with increased political awareness, artists turned their eye towards the societal changes that had occurred during a period of strong economic growth. As a result of the political unrest, the Japanese government reacted by ramping up campaigns for spreading their ideologies. Mainly through the promise of a brighter future by driving increased consumption habits. Taki saw the potential of a new form of documentary photography that could inform his anti-government message and bring about further change[2].

During the early 1960s, Tomatsu Shomei was considered the leading photographer in Japan. He was a member of the photography agency VIVO, largely modelled after the prestigious European collective Magnum Photo. Tomatsu became a mentor to a new generation of up and coming photographers, which included Koji Taki, Takuma Nakahira, and Moriyama Daido. It was during the preparations for the “Shashin 100-nen (A Century of Japanese Photography) exhibition, where Taki was able to oversee the selection of hundreds of works by Japanese photographers. It was also during this time where Taki felt that the dominant ideologies of the government had poured over to the artistic choices made by Japanese photographers. Taki felt that the ‘neutrality of art’ was being threatened, thus creating the Provoke collective[3]. [1] Brueggemann, part 1

[2] Charrier, 2017

[3] Brueggemann

Purpose of Provoke
Members of Provoke wanted to change the traditional conceptions of Japanese photography. In particular, they proposed a new direction for documentary photography that was sharply different from their predecessors. During the time of the Vietnam war, the works of magnum photographers began circulating through the mass media, as well as other highly publicized galleries. Their work depicted the carnage of the Vietnam war, embracing a ‘realism’ approach to documentary photography. Members of Provoke saw these photographs as a manner of appealing to universal humanity, and to support the dominant ideologies of the Cold War era. Members of Provoke sought to rebel against this established style to focus on a form of documentary photography that was more personal and affective[1]. Taki wrote that it was an “attempt to dismantle the semantic environment” with the purpose “of trying to change reality”.

The first issue, Provoke Manifesto, was the first instance of the collective’s photography ideologies realized. They wished to convey the reality as they saw it, if ‘only a fragment’. Photography for them was a medium that was able to transcend language and thought[2]. The main focus was to convey atmosphere and energy.

''“Today when words have lost their material base – in other words, their reality – and seem suspended in mid-air, a photographers’ eye can capture fragments of reality that cannot be expressed in language as it is. He can submit those images as documents to be considered alongside language and ideology. This is why, brash as it may seem, Provoke has the subtitle ‘provocative documents of thought’”.'' [1] Kim

[2] Brueggemann

Style
Unlike many of their contemporaries, Provoke decided to focus on the monotony of urban life by choosing architecture, disenfranchised citizens, and abandoned sites as their subjects. Their subjects continued to enforce their philosophy of rejecting the ‘traditional photographic subject’. They sought to directly counter the ‘clean’ and ‘functional’ city that the state continued to promote during this period of economic growth[1].

Provoke’s photos were characterized through a distinctive style that was known to be often blurry, dark and out of focus. Photographic effects such as distortion, aggressive grain and high contrast images were embraced by the group. Often choosing to use images that other photographers would discard.[2] This style was famously named in Japanese “are-bure-boke”. These effects were a result of their experimentation with the development process of film photography, including altering industry standards for exposure times, correct temperature for the development process, and the printing process as well.

During a time where the Japanese mediascape was being reorganized around digitality and audio-visual media. Paper was quickly gaining the perception of being outdated. Seeing its immediacy to the readers as a merit, Provoke chose to place a heavy emphasis on the medium of paper as it became an aspect of their work as well. The imperfections that lied within the printing process, such as a photograph inherently losing detail as you print it, were also embraced by Provoke photographers. Utilizing a printing technique known as halftone, which would dramatically increase the contrast and grain of an image. The group also chose to print their publications using a square format, and leaving no margins at the edges of the paper. Resulting in an aggressive presentation of the images where photos seemingly bled into each other. These intentional choices rendered the printing process and the medium of paper to be essential to the end product. [1] Kim

[2] Kim

Disbandment
Nakahira left the group to pursue work that was more direct and measurable in external influence. Nakahira would then publish an essay titled in Japanese “Naze shokubutsu zukan ka?” (Why an illustrated botanical dictionary”. Describing his previous efforts with Provoke as not neutral enough.

The individual works of Moriyama and Taki that came afterwards were still in tight association with the original style and purpose of Provoke. Along with other contemporaries, it would go on to be known as the “Era of Povoke”. Subsequent works by members of Provoke arguably are continuations of the ideologies that the magazine sought to spread. Works including Nakahira’s “For a Language to Come”, Moriyama’s (Bye Bye Photography), and Takashi’s (Toshi-e Towards a City).