Description
Tadayuki Naito has developed an entire series on blue lotus, which is a sign of peace and hope for the spirit and mind. He wanted to express the intrinsically Japanese aesthetic of embodiment, abstraction, and a sense of rhythm as the focus of his creativity through this symbol. This photograph was published in Blue Lotus (Hyogensha Tokyo, 2005).
About the artist
Tadayuki Naito was born in Tokyo in 1941. Miles Davis and jazz music captured his mind at the young age of 17. He started taking photographs of leading jazz musicians and their live stage performances in his early 20s. In 1970, he set up his own company, Photohouse OM, and published a photo book on Terumasa Hino, a trumpet player of his generation. One of his life-long interests has been to interpret the world of jazz music visually and to capture photographically the powerful performances of musicians. Naito also made extensive trips to Africa, Asia, and America, and took innumerable photographs from his unique standpoint. The results of these trips were combined to create the famed photo series The Songs of Africa (Tokyo Shibunsha, 1982) and Zebra (Joho Center Tokyo, 1988). These images have been developed into exhibitions, publications and motifs in graphic design and textiles. His well-known work includes Sakura-Cosm (Tokyo, Switch Shoseki Shuppanbu, 1990) and Synchro Vibes (Tokyo, JICC Shuppankyoku, 1991). He has created and published many CD covers and portraits of musicians and celebrities, including Miles Davis.