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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Untitled [Yokosuka] from the series Chewing Gum and Chocolate
Shômei Tômatsu (Japanese, 1930–2012)
Japanese
Shôwa era
1969
Medium/Technique
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 24.4 × 35.4 cm (9 5/8 × 13 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Sophie M. Friedman Fund
Accession Number2021.333
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPhotographs
Decrying the Americanization of Japan following the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Occupation by the US armed forces, Tōmatsu undertook a series of photographs at the Yokosuka naval base, outside of Tokyo. In "Chewing Gum and Chocolate," the photographer not only expresses his own anxiety about the impact of the American presence but also captures the alienation of the young soldiers, stationed far from home during the conflict in Vietnam. In this iconic image from the series, Tōmatsu’s subjects are two Black sailors, who while in the United States enjoyed few rights—but who as Tōmatsu later described—faced “the stupidity of fighting a war ‘for the sake of freedom.’”
The MFA has four other images by Tōmatsu, two of which (Protest 1, Tokyo, 2008.94 and Protest 2, Tokyo, 2008.291) address the protests against the US-Japan Security Treaty, which sanctioned American military bases in Japan.
The MFA has four other images by Tōmatsu, two of which (Protest 1, Tokyo, 2008.94 and Protest 2, Tokyo, 2008.291) address the protests against the US-Japan Security Treaty, which sanctioned American military bases in Japan.
Provenance2008, sold by the artist to Tepper Takayama Fine Arts, Boston; 2021, sold by Tepper Takayama Fine Arts to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 16, 2021)