Published to coincide with an exhibition of the same name, Los Angeles x Shinjuku presents a face-to-face selection of work from Daido Moriyama’s ongoing Shinjuku, Tokyo series and Avo Tavitian’s photographs of Los Angeles made over the past three decades.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1954, Avo Tavitian’s journey to photography is marked by a profound connection to his changing surroundings. Shaped by the experience of moving to the Eastern shore of the United States with his family in the late 1960s, following the 1967 Middle East war, Tavitian developed a sense of being an outsider during his formative teen years in New Jersey and New York City, a sensibility that would later influence his work as a photographer after his relocation to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s.

Born in 1938 in Osaka, Japan, Daido Moriyama is a pivotal figure in contemporary photography, celebrated for his evocative black-and-white street photography that captures the essence of urban life. In recording the subcultures of Tokyo during his career he gravitated to the dense, dynamic and often gritty ward of Shinjuku. He employs a raw, spontaneous style characterized by high contrast and grainy textures. His iconic images explore themes of identity, memory, and the fleeting moments of everyday existence.

Tavitian and Moriyama both focus on framing everyday subjects, capturing moments on 35mm film while embracing the unpredictability of the medium. Their work reflects a deep fascination with urban landscapes and a curiosity about the mundane, as they seeks to document the changes and constants in his field of vision. Through their explorations, both photographers use the camera to navigate the complexities of belonging and identity in an ever-shifting human environment.

Curated by Maya Ishiwata and Bjarne Bare, the exhibition Los Angeles x Shinjuku is the inaugural exhibition at the new Nazraeli Showroom opening in Downtown Los Angeles later this year.