MASAHISA FUKASE
KILL THE PIG
Published by the(M) éditions & IBASHO, 2021
Book size 24.5x32.5cm
Pages 84 pages
Hardcover with slipcase
Language Japanese English
Photographs: Masahisa Fukase Text (Japanese / English): Tomo Kosuga (Founder and Director of the Masahisa Fukase Archives)
Design: Main Studio
ISBN: 979-10-95424-27-7
In 1961, Masahisa Fukase's first solo exhibition, Kill the Pig, was held in Tokyo. The exhibition featured two series of photographs: one entitled Kill the Pig and the other entitled Naked.
The Kill the Pig series reveals photographs taken in a slaughterhouse in Shibaura, Tokyo.
The series includes both black and white and color photographs.
The other series on show, Naked, shows images of Fukase himself and his partner at the time, Yukiyo Kawakami.
One of the photographs in the exhibition, however, stands out from the rest. This dead baby is a highly contrasting work consisting of two prints, one positive, the other negative, two inverted black and white images, presented face to face. This stillborn baby is Fukase and Yukiyo's first child. In the exhibition, this work is clearly in evidence, as a point of reference for all the other images.
It seems that through this image Fukase is trying to underline, both positively and negatively, the cruelty and interconnection between life and death.
This book brings together in a single volume the photographs featured in the exhibition. As he explains in his essay, Tomo Kosuga sees these images, which have remained in the shadows for many years, as the starting point for Fukase's photographic practice.
Text by the publisher
-----
In 1961, Masahisa Fukase's first solo exhibition, Kill the Pig, was held in Tokyo. The exhibition featured two series of photographs: one, titled Kill the Pig and the other, titled Naked.
The Kill the Pig series reveals photographs taken inside a slaughterhouse in Shibaura, Tokyo.
The series includes black and white photographs and color photographs.
The other series on display, Naked, features images of Fukase himself and his then-partner, Yukiyo Kawakami.
One of the photographs in the exhibition, however, stands out from the others. This dead baby is a highly contrasted work that consists of two prints, one positive, the other negative, two inverted black and white images, presented face to face. This stillborn baby is Fukase and Yukiyo's first child. In the exhibition, this work is clearly highlighted, as a point of reference for all the other images.
It seems that Fukase is trying to emphasize, in both positive and negative terms, the cruelty and interconnection between life and death through this image.
This book brings together in a single volume the photographs that appeared in this exhibition. As he explains in his essay, Tomo Kosuga considers these images, which remained in the shadows for many years, as the starting point of Fukase's photographic practice.
Editor's text