Shigeichi Nagano was a Japanese photographer. Nagano was born in Ōita City in Ōita Prefecture, and studied economics at Keio University. On graduating, he joined a trading company, but soon resigned. He was recruited by Natori Yōnosuke for Weekly Sun News ; and in 1949 moved to Iwanami Shoten where, again under Natori, he did the photography for about fifty of the slim volumes in Iwanami Shashin Bunko. In 1954 he went freelance, concentrating on magazine work. During the 1960s Nagano observed the period of intense economic growth in Japan, depicting the lives of Tokyo's sarariman with some humor. The photographs of this period were only published in book form much later, as Dorīmu eiji and 1960. In 1964 Nagano worked on the cinemaphotography for Ichikawa Kon's film Tokyo Olympiad, and he then moved to work in film and television, particularly television commercials. Nagano exhibited recent examples of his street photography in 1986, winning the Ina Nobuo Award. He published several books of his works since then, and won a number of awards. Nagano had a major retrospective at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in 2000. Nagano died two months short of his 94th birthday, on January 30, 2019.
Books of Nagano's works
Iwanami Shashin Bunko. Tokyo: Iwanami. Nagano is reputed to have done the photography for 50 or 60 of this large set. They include:
* Kamakura. 1950. Reprint: Tokyo: Iwanami, 1988.. The reprint names Nagano as photographer.
* Nagasaki. 1951.
* Hiroshima. 1952.
Kogai satsuei jōtatsu 50 no hiketsu. Tokyo: Genkōsha, 1954.
Dorīmu eiji / Japan's Dream Age. Sonorama Shashin Sensho 10. Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1978. A new edition of Nagano's photographs of urban Japan in the period of high growth.
Nagano Shigeichi. Nihon no Shashinka. Tokyo: Iwanami, 1999.. A survey of Nagano's work.
Kono kuni no kioku: Nagano Shigeichi, shashin no shigoto / A Chronicle of Japan: Nagano Shigeichi: A Life in Photography. Tokyo: Nihon Shashin Kikaku, 2000.. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 2000. Captions are in English as well as Japanese; other text is in Japanese only.
Tōi shisen / Distant Gaze. Tokyo: Wides, 2001..
Nagano Shigeichi. Hysteric 14. Tokyo: Hysteric Glamour, 2005. Photographs 1949-59, 2001-2004. Captions in Japanese and English.
Tōkyō 1950 nendai. Tokyo: Iwanami, 2007.. Photographs of the streets of Tokyo. With an essay by Saburō Kawamoto.
Tōi shisen: Gentō / Distant Gaze: Dark Blossom of Winter. Tokyo: Sokyu-sha, 2008.
Honkon tsuioku / Hongkong Reminiscence 1958. Tokyo: Sokyu-sha, 2009. Photographs of Hong Kong taken in 1958. Short texts in Japanese and English, captions in Japanese only.
Magajin wāku 60 nendai / Magazine Work 60s. Tokyo: Life Goes On & Taxi, 2009.. Works published in magazines, 1958-1971. Text in Japanese and English.
Works with contributions by Nagano
Densha ni miru toshi fūkei 1981-2006. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2004..
*Nihon no jigazō: Shashin ga egaku sengo, 1945-1964. Tokyo: Kurevisu, 2009.
Iwanami Shoten Henshūbu. Tachiagaru Hiroshima 1952. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2013.. Nagano is credited as one of the small number of photographers.
Nihon shashin no tenkan: 1960 nendai no hyōgen / Innovation in Japanese Photography in the 1960s. Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1991. Exhibition catalogue, text in Japanese and English. Pp.90-97 show photographs from the series "Dream Age".
Shashin toshi Tōkyō / Tokyo/City of Photos. Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1995. Catalogue of an exhibition held in 1995. Captions and texts in both Japanese and English.
Tōkyō: Toshi no shisen / Tokyo: A city perspective. Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1990. Captions and text in Japanese and English.
