{"id":129,"date":"2020-12-27T23:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T04:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/?page_id=129"},"modified":"2021-01-07T15:11:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T20:11:59","slug":"hosoe-eikoh","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/hosoe-eikoh\/","title":{"rendered":"Hosoe Eikoh \u7d30\u6c5f\u82f1\u516c \u2013\u2013Theatrical Juxtaposition and Performative Superimposition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well-known for his highly personal and provoking styles, Hosoe Eikoh \u7d30\u6c5f\u82f1\u516c (b. 1933) occupies a special place in the history of postwar Japanese photography. Hosoe learned photography at a young age from his father, who was a priest in a Shinto shrine who became a commercial photographer.[1]<\/a> In 1954, Hosoe graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography, where he later returned in 1975 to serve as a professor of photography.[2]<\/a> Hosoe began to attract wide attention after his 1960 solo show, \u201cMan and Woman,\u201d in which he explored forms of human bodies\u2013\u2013a favored theme that he would continue to investigate in his later works including the photographs on display in this section.[3]<\/a> One characteristic that distinguishes Hosoe\u2019s photographic practices among contemporary Japanese photographers is his close collaboration with other artists, actors and writers, which makes his works an epitome of the lively artistic exchanges in the second half of the twentieth century in Japan. His particular interests in collaborating with dancers and actors to create staged and semi-staged photographs also give his works a unique sense of Surrealist theatricality. As curator Simon Baker commented, Hosoe accepted \u201cmore completely and honestly than any other artist of his generation the absolute equilibrium at the heart of the relationship between photography and performance.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This section features three photographs by Hosoe, all of which are included in his photobook Barakei<\/em> \u8594\u8587\u5211 (\u201cKilled by Roses,\u201d later retitled \u201cOrdeal by Roses\u201d). In this group of photographs, Hosoe captures the model\u2013\u2013the renowned writer and actor Mishima Yukio \u4e09\u5cf6\u7531\u7d00\u592b (1925\u20131970) in juxtaposition with provocative references to Western cultural tradition and homosexuality. The collaboration between Hosoe and Mishima began in September 1961. After Mishima saw Hosoe\u2019s photographs of Hijikta Tastumi \u571f\u65b9\u5dfd (1928\u20131986)\u2013\u2013the founder of the Ankoku Butoh \u6697\u9ed2\u821e\u8e0f dance who had adapted Mishima\u2019s novel into a dance performance, Mishima connected with Hosoe through his editor and commissioned a photo session for his book, which then evolved into the much bigger Barakei<\/em> project.[5]<\/a> Hosoe and Mishima collaborated on this project between the fall of 1961 and the spring of 1962, photographing first in Mishima\u2019s house and then in the deserted dance studio of Hijikata.[6]<\/a> The resulted photographs were then compiled into a photobook under the title \u201cBarakei,\u201d one of eight titles proposed by Mishima and chosen by Hosoe when some works from the series were exhibited in January 1962 in the VIVO\u2013associated \u201cNon\u201d exhibition organized by Fukushima Tatsuo.[7]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike any conventional author photo, the highly stylized photographs in the Barakei<\/em> series explore and reconstruct Mishima\u2019s sexual and cultural identities through provoking means of juxtaposition and superimposition. Mishima was also happy to give the young photographer enough space to create something unconventional. The first time they met, Mishima told Hosoe: \u201cI am your subject matter. Photograph me however you please.\u201d[8]<\/a>\u00a0With Mishima\u2019s consent, Hosoe used \u201cwhatever Mishima loved or owned to form a document on the writer\u201d with the photographer\u2019s own \u201cinterpretation and expression.\u201d[9]<\/a> Thus, the Barakei<\/em> series is a collaborative performance by Mishima and Hosoe, in which reality is mediated by theatrical juxtaposition and superimposition of provocative cultural emblems. A representative of Hosoe\u2019s career-long interest in the integration of photography and performance on the subject of human body, the Barakei<\/em> photographs on display explore issues of homosexuality and cultural identity in \u201ca kind of nude theater.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

EXPLORE THIS SECTION<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"#33<\/em>, Barakei<\/em> \u8594\u8587\u5211, 1961 (1963?), printed 1982<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#34<\/em>, Barakei<\/em> \u8594\u8587\u5211, 1961<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#29<\/em>, Barakei<\/em> \u8594\u8587\u5211, 1961<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh and Lena Fritsch, \u201cIn Conversation with Hosoe Eikoh,\u201d in Ravens & Red Lipstick: Japanese Photography Since 1945<\/em> (London: Thames & Hudson, 2018), 51.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cArtist Profiles,\u201d in Anne Wilkes Tucker, et al, eds. The History of Japanese Photography <\/em>(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 344.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Lena Fritsch, \u201cThe Image Generation,\u201d in Ravens & Red Lipstick: Japanese Photography Since 1945<\/em> (London: Thames & Hudson, 2018), 44.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Simon Baker and Fiont\u00e1n Moran, eds., Performing for the Camera<\/em> (London, 2016), 18, as quoted in Lena Fritsch, Ravens & Red Lipstick: Japanese Photography Since 1945<\/em> (London: Thames & Hudson, 2018), 47.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh, \u201cNotes on Photographing Barakei<\/em>,\u201d in Ivan Vartanian, Akihiro Hatanaka, and Yutaka Kambayashi, eds. Setting Sun: Writings by Japanese Photographers <\/em>(New York: Aperture, 2006), 132\u2013134.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh, \u201cNotes on Photographing Barakei<\/em>,\u201d 132, 134, 137.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh, \u201cNotes on Photographing Barakei<\/em>,\u201d 137.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh, \u201cNotes on Photographing Barakei<\/em>,\u201d 133.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh, \u201cNotes on Photographing Barakei<\/em>,\u201d 134.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Hosoe Eikoh, \u201cNotes on Photographing Barakei<\/em>,\u201d 133.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well-known for his highly personal and provoking styles, Hosoe Eikoh \u7d30\u6c5f\u82f1\u516c (b. 1933) occupies a special place in the history of postwar Japanese photography. Hosoe learned photography at a young age from his father, who was a priest in a Shinto shrine who became a commercial photographer.[1] In 1954, Hosoe graduated from the Tokyo College […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3443,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-129","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404,"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129\/revisions\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/art574-yixu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}