Published by Los Angeles-based Deadbeat Club, “1987” presents a series of black-and-white photographs taken by the Japanese photographer Toshio Shibata in Cappadocia, Turkey, and along the Aswan Western Agricultural Road in Egypt. These visits were part of a series of four trips to the Middle East leading up to the 1989 World Design Exposition in Nagoya, Japan.
Taken with a 4×5 Linhof Super Technika camera, Shibata’s prints exude a sense of presence and detail that is fascinating to witness. Though less than forty years have passed since the photographs were taken, the world they depict has largely disappeared.
“Perhaps it was because of the camera I was using, or perhaps because they were curious about me as a foreigner, but when I pointed my camera at them, people on the other side of the canal gathered around and posed spontaneously. Some even came over to my side and gestured for me to take more.
Looking back now, it’s fascinating to see the interest in cameras, the eyes directed at my lenses, and this era of the people about 40 years ago—before the Arab Spring and before smartphones; but at the same time, it reminds me of my confusion as I photographed in these countries for the first time.”
― from Toshio Shibata’s foreword
