Masahisa Fukase 1961-1991 Retrospective Masahisa Fukase

About the productJapanese

A retrospective tracing the career of Masahisa Fukase, who was active from the 1960s to the early 1990s, and experiencing his unique world.

"I never think that I can capture a subject by photographing it. What's important to me is how much I can get into it. How much of myself I can reflect in it. I want the act of looking through the viewfinder to become something that is fleshed out... I can't help but feel like photography can be used more freely. I think it's possible to have a relationship that includes my entire existence."
Masahisa Fukase, 1969

Masahisa Fukase carved out a unique position in the history of Japanese photography in the 1960s with his deep insight into his own private life. This was also an attempt to seek the origins of photography, and what came to be called "personal photography" developed as one of the major forms of expression that photographers turned to.
Fukase turns his camera on people close to him, such as his wife and family, exposing his own private life while also turning his attention to the madness that lurks within himself. This madness is mixed with a loving gaze towards his subjects and a humorous lightness, making Fukase's work special and unique.
This book contains a comprehensive collection of his representative works, including "Yuugi," "Yoko," "Karasu," "Sasuke," "Family," and "Bukubuku," in a handy format. It is a retrospective that follows the trajectory of Masahisa Fukase, who was active from the 1960s to the early 1990s, and touches upon his unique world.
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Fukase's photographic expression "always begins with things close at hand, things he can touch," and he "wanted to capture the loveliness of his subjects while reflecting himself in their eyes." He attempted to portray the "multiple layers of existence" in a single photograph by attempting to "reflect himself," but because photographs do not reveal the photographer's true intentions as accurately as words can, there were many times when "the paradox of being together to take the photograph" arose, even when the photograph was an expression of affection. However, Fukase must have been confronted with the paradox of love and hate surrounding photography from an early age, long before he acquired the ability to speak. (Omitted)

Most of what Fukase looked at throughout his life were things close to home. In other words, he faced subjects that anyone could easily photograph if they so chose, but there was a definitive essence to his photographs, and it was this heart-wrenching earnestness that made him the photographer that he became: Fukase Masahisa.
As it turns out, Fukase, whose photographs were taken with extraordinary sensibility, was a photographer with foresight and a strong desire to experiment. In this age where everyone uses their smartphones instead of cameras to touch and admire their subjects, and where it has become commonplace to take two-shot photos with the landscape, we can surely find empathetic perspectives and perceptions in his work, and even the roots of why people find photography enjoyable. Fukase was not left behind in the past, but rather playing with photography in the distant future, waiting for our arrival.

Text included in this book
"A play where subject and object are not separated; the paradox of love and photography"
Excerpt from Tomo Kosuga (Director of the Masahisa Fukase Archives)

Product Information

release date Available now

Part numberGPHT11590W-9784865411669

Specification Size: H220mm × W148mm/Page: 216 pages/Binding: Cloth Hardcover

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