Masahisa Fukase - Yohko - 1978

Yohko

Masahisa Fukase
Asahi Sonorama/1978/Japanese/210*220*15

Yohko” is a collection of photographs by Masahisa Fukase, one of Japan's leading photographers. The motifs that Masahisa Fukase has projected onto his work are “Ravens,” “Cats,” “Father,” and “Family. In recent years, domestic and international publishers have re-released “Ravens” and re-edited the “Cats” series, making Masahisa Fukase an increasingly popular solitary photographer. As important a motif as ravens and cats, and an indispensable subject in Fukase's career as a photographer, is his ex-wife, Yohko. This valuable book was published in 1978, after Fukase's separation from Yohko. Fukase lived a solitary life, and behind the “coolness” and “beauty” of his photographs, there is a sense of loneliness and melancholy, as well as a glimpse of himself. Of course, the same is true of this work, but it is also attractive in that it is intimate and somewhat “warm” and “fun” with a woman who has been with him for many years. The raven that Fukase met after his divorce from Yoko and his return to his hometown of Hokkaido to continue his lonely journey, and that he has continued to pursue since then, also peeks out from time to time.