“Of course, a sharp eye is fundamental. And of course you have to be alert, sensitive, responsive, at ease in your own body, so that you can react to the stimuli around you immediately. But above all, you have to have desire. That desire the photographer must feel in the instant they take the shot. If you don't have desire, you won't see what's there. I'm talking about the desire you feel in that moment when you see something that compels you to take your shot - it could be a woman, or anything. Desire is all around us; there's a huge, limitless supply of it. It's important to be true to that desire. To take a photograph that is at all interesting or meaningful you must become one with that desire when you press the shutter button.”
~ Daido Moriyama (b. 1938)
Daido Moriyama often spoke about desire as the essential ingredient in photography. Not technique. Not equipment. Desire. That irresistible pull toward something that catches your eye and demands a response.
These three photographs embody that idea beautifully. Eyes. Lips. Fragments of a face. Simple subjects, yet endlessly evocative. Moriyama had an extraordinary gift for finding poetry in the fleeting and the ordinary, transforming passing moments into images that stay with us long after we have seen them.
These photographs remind us that great photography begins with looking, but it endures because of feeling.
Daido Moriyama: The Hunter brings together a selection of works that reflect this lifelong approach—restless, searching, and pulsing with life. It will be on view at the gallery from June 6th - September 5th, 2026.
