Eikoh Hosoe

Hosoe is one of Japan’s most internationally recognized photographers. His work pushed the boundaries of traditional photography by integrating dance and theatre into photographic essays that lie between reality and fiction. His interactions with the novelist Yukio Mishima and the founder of Butoh dance, Tatsumi Hijikata, formed the basis for two of his most celebrated series of works, respectively Barakei (Ordeal by Roses, 1963) and Kamaitachi (1965–1968).

Hosoe decided to pursue a photographic career after winning first prize in the student group of the Fuji Photo Contest. He later enrolled at the Tokyo College of Photography, from which he graduated in 1954. One of the photographers to participate in The Eyes of Ten exhibition (1957), Hosoe was also one of the founding members of the Vivo agency in 1959. Teaching has formed an important part of Hosoe’s career and in 1975 he was offered a professorship at the Tokyo College of Photography. He is also the director of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Yamanashi prefecture. A retrospective of his work, Spherical Dualism of Photography: The World of Eikoh Hosoe, was shown at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in 2006.