Ken Ohara - One - 1970

Ken Ohara; One; Tsukiji Shokan Publishing, 1970.
Softcover, 27,5 x 22,2 cm. Black & white photographs. First edition, 1970. Included in Martin Parr & Berry Badger, The Photobook I, page 291. Very good condition including the rare dustjacket, which shows slight wear along the edges an minimal abrasion at the dj's upper spin end and slight kink at the upper right corner of the front cover, not noticable under the dw. Inscribed to Benedict Taschen in 1996, no signature.
Ohara assembled 500 portraits of people of different backgrounds and printed them with identical tonal values, effectively neutralizing skin‑colour differences. Through uniform framing that aligns the facial features, he minimizes what are usually seen as racial distinctions. Physiognomic traits often associated with racial groups prove far less significant in his compendium than skin tone. In doing so, Ohara uses the camera to imagine humanity as a single melting pot, his serial portraits functioning as a quiet act of atonement for racism.