Photo museum Winterthur : Shomei Tomatsu *Skin of a Nation*

Since the beginning of September the photo museum is exhibiting *skin of the nation* with photos by the father of modern Japanese photography: Shomei Tomatsu. *Skin of the nation* is a retrospective of Shomei Tomatsus works, his position in the Japanese post war avant-garde and his central role in the development of the modern Japanese photography. Born in 1930 Tomatsu grew up during the military times of the 2nd World War. In the 50s he started with photography focusing on the poverty stricken post war Japan. With distressing photos Tomatsu documented the effects of the atomic bomb, the discord of the Japanese towards the slow Americanisation and the transformation of the old traditional Japan. His photographic style has been a huge influence in Japanese photography. The San Francisco Museum is publishing a catalogue accompanying the exhibition. Shomei Tomatsu – skin of a nation 2. September – 19. November 2006 photo museum Winterthur Grüzenstrasse 44 + 45 CH-8400 Winterthur (Zürich) Telephon +41 52 234 10 60 Infoline +41 52 234 10 34