Eikoh Hosoe is an integral part of the history of modern Japanese photography. He remains a driving force in photography, not only for his own work, but also as a teacher and as an ambassadorial figure, fostering artistic exchange between Japan and the outside world. His influence has been felt not only in his native country, but throughout the international photographic community. Baroque, theatrical, and rich with metaphor, Eikoh Hosoe's photographs evoke the dark, post-nuclear folklore of the Japanese imagination that is peopled by characters both real and fictitious. His collaborations with novelist and provocateur Yukio Mishima and with founder of the Butoh dance movement Tatsumi Hijikata resulted in extended essays created out of a unique hybrid of performance, biography, and the still image. This volume presents a selection of the finest of Hosoe's photographs, including a thumbnail reproduction of one of his seminal essays, "Kamaitachi," in its entirety. An essay by Mark Holborn, photo-historian and author, presents an introduction to Hosoe's lifework.

Aperture Masters of Photography: Eikoh Hosoe

Eikoh Hosoe est un des grands noms de la photographie japonaise. À quatre-vingt-huit ans, l'influence et le magistère de cet artiste, dont l'oeuvre n'a cessé de bousculer et d'interroger l'âme même de la culture japonaise, sont d'une intacte fécondité. Ami de l'écrivain Yukio Mishima et de Tatsumi Hijikata (fondateur du butô), il incarne l'avant-garde de la création nippone. C'est autour de la représentation du corps - et singulièrement de la nudité, strict tabou de la civilisation japonaise -, de sa sensualité, que se concentre et se développe son art, dans un langage photographique et un style foncièrement novateurs où le grain de l'image, ses mises en scène, ses contrastes, son esthétique quasi baroque imposent une vision qui à bien des égards peut se percevoir comme révolutionnaire.

Livres