Tokyo Olympia

This monumental sequel is a reinterpretation of Takashi Homma’s seminal book Tokyo Suburbia.

For six years, Homma photographed the changing urban landscape of Tokyo as it prepared for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The book presents images that capture the scale of the megalopolis, through the transformations of the national stadium, the Tsukiji market just before its relocation to the Toyosu market, the constantly changing buildings and the vast wastelands of Tokyo Bayside.

Takashi Homma (b. 1962, lives and works in Tokyo) is one of Japan’s most active, internationally recognised and influential photographers, both in the world of photography and contemporary art. Homma’s photography, which takes a singular, neutral and distant look at its subjects, rejecting all sentimentality, explores the relationships between individuals and the urban environment from a socio-political perspective. Takashi Homma, who began working in advertising and fashion magazines in the late 1980s, moved to London in the early 1990s to work with legendary cultural magazines such as i-D. On his return to Japan, he developed a highly personal body of work, published notably in the book Tokyo Suburbia, which received the Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award in 1999.

Text by Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA)