Jō Takeba

Jō Takeba is a Japanese photography critic, photography historian, and curator at the Nagoya City Art Museum. His work has focused on the history of photography in Nagoya and on modern Japanese photography, including exhibition and publication projects that have helped reconstruct regional avant-garde networks in Japanese photography.

Career Takeba has been identified in English-language profiles as a photography critic and photography historian, and as of 2009 he has served as a curator at the Nagoya City Art Museum, where he has organized various photography exhibitions.

Curatorial work Takeba has curated or contributed to exhibitions on Japanese modern photography at the Nagoya City Art Museum. English-language exhibition listings identify him as the curator of The Development of Japanese Modern Photography in MANCHOUKUO (2017). Museum and art-press materials for the 2021 exhibition Shashin no miyako monogatari: Nagoya shashin undōshi 1911-1972 also identify him as a curator or lecturer connected with the project.

Writings and edited volumes Takeba's principal publications include The Development of Japanese Modern Photography in Manchoukuo (2017) and The Movement of Modern Photography in Nagoya 1911-1972 (2020). His work is also relevant to the study of prewar avant-garde photography in Japan and Surrealism in Japan, including artists such as Kansuke Yamamoto (artist) and groups such as Nagoya Photo Avant-Garde. His curatorial career has also included work related to The History of Japanese Photography.

Selected publications Takeba's publications have focused on regional photographic history, Japanese modern photography, and exhibition-based research on prewar and postwar visual culture in Nagoya.

The Development of Japanese Modern Photography in Manchoukuo (2017) The Movement of Modern Photography in Nagoya 1911-1972 (2020)