牛腸茂雄(1946-1983)は自作による三冊の写真集と、構想中の写真集のための草案を残し、1983年36歳でこの世を去った。本書は上記の構想中として未完に終わった写真シリーズ『幼年の「時間」』に日本カメラ1983年6月号に同名のタイトルとして掲載された写真を加え、彼がFROGで展示した写真をメインに、彼が残したまとまりのある写真群を加えて構成されている。巻末には生前の大辻清司氏、三浦和人氏のテキストも収録。牛腸の死後に刊行された本であり、自身の制作態度に厳しかった彼からすると、不本意なものかもしれないが、当時『
デジャ・ヴュ第8号』で特集が組まれ、 NHKの日曜美術館に取り上げられ、また未来社から『
SELF AND OTHERS』が復刻されるなど、再評価の気運が高まっていた時期。写真家・牛腸茂雄を理解する新たな資料として活用されるはず。おまけで四谷の写真ギャラリー兼出版社FROG発行の牛腸茂雄写真展「幼年の時間」のパンフレット付き。
Shigeo Gocho (1946-1983) left behind three photobooks of his own creation and drafts for a photobook he was planning, before passing away in 1983 at the age of 36. This book is composed of the aforementioned unfinished photo series "Childhood 'Time'," plus a photograph published in the June 1983 issue of Nippon Camera under the same title, and mainly photographs he exhibited at FROG, along with a cohesive collection of photographs he left behind. The book also includes texts by Kiyoji Otsuji and Kazuto Miura from when they were alive. This book was published after Gocho's death, which may have been disappointing for him, given his strict attitude towards his own work, but at the time, there was a growing movement to re-evaluate his work, with a feature in "
Deja-Vu No. 8," coverage on NHK's Sunday Art Museum, and a reprint of "
SELF AND OTHERS" published by Mirai-sha. It should be used as new material to understand the photographer Shigeo Gocho. As a bonus, it comes with a pamphlet for the Shigeo Gocho photo exhibition "Childhood" published by FROG, a photo gallery and publishing company in Yotsuya, Tokyo.