Jun Abe is a Japanese street photographer and educator who lives and works in Osaka. As of autumn 2014, he has produced six books of photographs of people in cities, including Citizens: 1979–1983, which won the Society of Photography Award. He was the official photographer of the butoh dance group Byakko-sha from 1982 to 1994.
Life and work
Abe studied photography at Ōsaka Shashin Senmon Gakkō. From 1982 to 1994 he was the official photographer for Byakko-sha, a butohdance group based in Kyoto. In this capacity he travelled extensively in 1982 and 1983. From 2002 Abe has taught at the Visual Arts Osaka college. He has been a member of the Osaka-based photography collective running Vacuum Press since 2006. Since 2013 he has been represented by Hatten Gallery.
Books
= Kurīchāzu: Kami no kemono-tachi = Creaturers. Village, 1989.. Black and white photographs; essay by Isamu Ōsuka and artist chronology in Japanese.
= Citizens: 1979–1983. Osaka: Vacuum, 2009.. Vacuum Press 4. Black and white photographs; no captions or other text.
= Kokubyaku nōto: 1996–1999 = Black & white note: 1996–1999. Osaka: Vacuum, 2010.. Vacuum Press 5. Black and white photographs; no captions or other text.
= Manira: August, 1983 = Manila: August, 1983. Osaka: Vacuum, 2011.. Vacuum Press 7. Black and white photographs; no captions or other text.
= Kokubyaku nōto: 2 = Black & white note 2. Osaka: Vacuum, 2012. . Vacuum Press 9. Black and white photographs; no captions or other text.
2001. Osaka: Vacuum, 2013.. Vacuum Press 11. Black and white photographs; no captions or other text.
Busan. Osaka: Vacuum, 2014. Black and white photographs.
= 1981 = 1981: Top. Osaka: Vacuum, 2015. Vacuum Press 14. First volume of a two-volume set. Black and white photographs.
= 1981 = 1981: Bottom. Osaka: Vacuum, 2015. Vacuum Press 15. Second volume of a two-volume set. Black and white photographs.
= 1981 Kōbe = 1981: Kobe. Osaka: Vacuum, 2016.
New York. Osaka: Vacuum, 2017.
Citizens in Society 1989~1994. Osaka: Vacuum, 2019.
Solo exhibitions (selected)
2006: Black & White Note: Box, Gallery 10:06, Osaka.
2012: Citizens/1983, Gallery Niépce, Tokyo.
2012/2013: Citizens, The Third Gallery Aya, Osaka.
2013: Black & White Note, Black & White Note 2, Place M Photo Gallery, Tokyo. Related to his Society of Photography Award.
