A tribute to Shomei Tomatsu 1930-2012

From his roughly fifteen publications to date – which include the only important Western publication, the catalogue of his 2006 exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art – I had selected roughly 110 photographs for my book. With copies of the photographs I selected under my arm, I visited Shomei Tomatsu and his wife this past summer in his studio in Okinawa, where he has been living for several years now, mainly for health reasons. And I was amazed that the great master, who has a reputation among the cognoscenti of being very rigorous, approved of my selections, without any reservations.