MASAHISA FUKASE

While the life (and death) of Masahisa Fukase is arguably one of the most tragic stories in photography, the resulting body of work is also one of the most powerful. After studying art in Tokyo and a brief career in advertising photography, in 1961 he exhibited his first series, Kill the Pig, which included images of slaughterhouses, nudes taken with his first wife, and a portrait of their stillborn baby taken against her wishes. This exhibition marked the end of his first relationship and the beginning of his artistic career.

Very quickly, he began a passionate relationship with another woman, Yohko, whom he photographed every morning from his window. In this famous series, we see Yohko over the years, less and less happy, announcing the separation that she would impose on him after ten years of a tumultuous relationship. Deeply affected, Masahisa Fukase returned to his native Hokkaido, in northern Japan, and then compulsively photographed crows, making these black birds a true symbol of his solitude and the depression he was going through. Among his varied, personal, but also experimental series, "The Solitude of Ravens" remains his most famous. Between 1974 and 1976, he collaborated with Araki Nobuyoshi, Tōmatsu Shōmei, Hosoe Eikō and Moriyama Daidō at the now legendary Workshop photography school.

In 1992, while leaving a bar, a fall put him in a coma for twenty years. He would eventually die in 2012. Yohko never stopped visiting him during this period.

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While the life (and death) of Masahisa Fukase is without a doubt one of the most tragic stories in photography, the resulting work is also one of the most powerful. After studying art in Tokyo and a short career in advertising photography, in 1961 he exhibited his first series entitled "Kill the Pig", bringing together images of a slaughterhouse, nudes taken with his first wife as well as a portrait of their stillborn baby taken against the latter's will. This exhibition marks the end of his first couple as well as the beginning of his artistic career.

Very soon, he began a passionate relationship with another woman, Yohko, whom he photographed every morning from her window. In this famous series, we see Yohko over the years, less and less joyful, announcing the separation that she will impose on him after ten years of tumultuous relationship. Deeply affected, Masahisa Fukase returned to his native Hokkaido, in northern Japan, and compulsively photographed crows, making these black birds a true symbol of his loneliness and the depression he was going through. Among his varied, personal but also experimental series, “The Solitude of Ravens” remains his most famous. Between 1974 and 1976, he collaborated with Araki Nobuyoshi, Tōmatsu Shōmei, Hosoe Eikō and Moriyama Daidō at the now legendary Workshop school of photography.

In 1992, while leaving a bar, he fell plunged into a coma for twenty years. He eventually died in 2012. Yohko continued to visit him during this period.