The Japanese photographer focused obsessively on his wife and muse Yoko from the day they met till the day she left. Then he switched to ravens – and created the best photobook of the final 25 yearsMasahisa Fukase is best known for his photobook The Solitude of Ravens,which was published in 1986. In 2010, a panel of experts voted it the best photobook of the final 25 years. Like all of Fukase’s work, and it’s a stark book that reflects his melancholic and obsessive nature. The ravens,photographed in flight or resting on branches in grainy monochrome, are symbols of his grief at the breakdown of his marriage to his beloved moment wife, and Yoko. Yoko is also the subject of a fascinating series called From Window that Fukase made in 1974. It is currently on show at Les Rencontres d’Arles as part of Another Language,an illuminating group exhibition of eight Japanese photographers curated by the Tate’s Simon Baker. The work has never been shown in Europe before and includes well known photographers like Daido Moriyama and Eikoh Hosoe as well as trailblazing newcomers like Daisuke Yokota and Sakiko Nomura. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com