was a Japanese magazine editor and photography critic.

Nishii was born in Tokyo in 1946. He graduated in economics from Keio University

Keio University

,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...

 in 1968, and shortly after this moved to the company publishing Mainichi Shimbun

Mainichi Shimbun

The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...

, rising via stints at Sunday Mainichi and Mainich Graph to become editor in chief of Camera Mainichi

Camera Mainichi

is a Japanese monthly magazine of photography that started in June 1954 and ceased publication in April 1985.As in most mass-market photography magazines, much of the editorial content of Camera Mainichi was devoted to news and reviews of cameras, lenses, and other equipment...

from 1983 until the magazine folded in 1985.

After the demise of Camera Mainichi Nishii worked as an editor for various book-publishing projects of Mainichi Shinbun-sha.

Nishii first proposed the Society of Photography Award

Society of Photography Award

The Society of Photography Award is an award presented annually since 1989 by the Society of Photography for outstanding work in photography....

 and played a major role in setting it up.

Books by Nishii

• Hizuke no aru shashinron . Tokyo: Seikyūsha
  Seikyūsha
  is a publisher based in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Philosophy, ideology, religion, mysticism, sexuality, and subculture are the main themes covered by the books it publishes. There is also a large number of publications related to Takarazuka Revue...
  
  , 1981.
• Shashin to iu media . Tokyo: Tōjunsha, 1982.
• Shōwa 20-nen Tōkyō chizu . Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1986. ISBN 4-480-85330-8.
• Shōwa 20-nen Tōkyō chizu: zoku . Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1987. ISBN 4-480-85398-7.
• Kurayami no ressun . Tokyo: Misuzu Shobō, 1992. ISBN 4-622-04239-8.
• Sengo 50-nen . Tokyo: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1995.
• Distance: Eiga o meguru danshō . Tokyo: Kage Shobō, 1996. ISBN 4-87714-225-8.
• Shashinteki kioku . Tokyo: Seikyūsha, 1997. ISBN 4-7872-7072-9.
• Shashin no yosoyososhisa . Tokyo: Misuzu Shobō, 1996. ISBN 4-622-04252-5.
• Naze imada "Purovōku" ka . Tokyo: Seikyūsha, 1996. ISBN 4-7872-7062-1.
• 20-seki shashinron: Shūshō . Tokyo: Seikyūsha, 2001. ISBN 4-7872-7144-X.
• Daido Moriyama. Phaidon 55. London: Phaidon, 2001. ISBN 0-7148-4023-8.
• Shashin-henshūsha: Yamagishi Shōji e no omāju . Tokyo: Mado-sha, 2002. ISBN 4-89625-038-9.

External links

• Nishii text archive at the Society of Photography (Tokyo)
• Potted biography for the 13th Nihon no moji to kumihan o kangaeru kai seminar held on 18 April 1999.