For Moriyama, the night is magical, a place of amazing encounters that arouses in him a “constant give and take between reality and Daido”, as the Japanese photographer stated in an interview from 2010. The young woman who seems to emerge from the darkness is a companion for the night, a twin flame with whom to share a unique and unrepeatable adventure. Now, and Never Again.

The self-portrait is a recurrent theme in Moriyama’s photography. And yet the pictures in which he actually appears are rare: rather, his shadow bears witness to the moment, as if that experience of a handful of minutes or a few days needed to be certified. As if a chapter of his never-ending story, of his infinite wanderings included, now and then, a pause as if to say “now, I’m here”.

Moriyama’s “iconic” image—the young girl running down a narrow alleyway, like the ones still found in Shinjuku—celebrates the inquisitive, restless and untiring spirit of this Japanese master: his insatiable quest, his ability to see beyond, always ready to face the repeated stimuli of a city, an uncontrolled vortex. “I think my photography practice consists in capturing some of these subjects from among the muddle.”