Review
". . . Mr. Hosoe, a pioneer in a grittily expressionistic form of photography in Japan, rejected conventions and saw tantalizing stories before his camera, some dark, some exuberant. . . . A powerful blend of memory and desire. "--The New York Times
"As the author of the text and the subject of the photographs, Mishima almost tenderly exploits his most intimate obsessions: his erotic desires, his creativity, his body, his premeditated death. Hosoe's work mirrors Mishima's complexity and contradictions in photographs whose images melt into superimposed layers of symbol and meaning."--Booklist
". . . an opulently printed, large-format book . . . Hosoe explores light and shadow, and collages images from Renaissance paintings and other sources, resulting in photographs that possess a piercing beauty, photographs where there are no lies and no deceptions."--"25 Best Books of 2002," THE magazine, December 2002/January 2003
Book Description
Ba-ra-kei is the fierce and lyrical testament of the legendary Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, who shocked the world when he committed ritual suicide in 1970. The year marked Japan's new economic confidence, and Mishima accused the country of being "drunk with prosperity." Many in Japan regarded the suicide as a sensational act. However, with the publication of Mishima's final cycle of novels-conceived eight years prior to his death-it was revealed that his suicide was a carefully considered act, a gesture of historical implication in accord with the morbid and esoteric aesthetic that pervades his writing.
Mishima's elaborate and erotic psyche was captured nine years before his death by master photographer Eikoh Hosoe. This collaboration resulted in surreal photographs of Mishima taken in the baroque interior of his home. The props that surround the writer are the antithesis of the Japanese sensibility of understatement, alluding to Mishima's dark, theatrical imagination. The images in Ba-ra-kei grant us entry into the private world of an extraordinary subject.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese
About the Author
Eikoh Hosoe was born in Japan in 1933. His books Man and Woman and Embrace radically changed the possibilities of nude photography. Hosoe is currently professor at the Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics.
Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses FROM THE PUBLISHER
Ba-ra-kei is the fierce and lyrical testament of the legendary Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, who shocked the world when he committed ritual suicide in 1970. The year marked Japan's new economic confidence, and Mishima accused the country of being "drunk with prosperity." Many in Japan regarded the suicide as a sensational act. However, with the publication of Mishima's final cycle of novels-conceived eight years prior to his death-it was revealed that his suicide was a carefully considered act, a gesture of historical implication in accord with the morbid and esoteric aesthetic that pervades his writing.
Mishima's elaborate and erotic psyche was captured nine years before his death by master photographer Eikoh Hosoe. This collaboration resulted in surreal photographs of Mishima taken in the baroque interior of his home. The props that surround the writer are the antithesis of the Japanese sensibility of understatement, alluding to Mishima's dark, theatrical imagination. The images in Ba-ra-kei grant us entry into the private world of an extraordinary subject.
SYNOPSIS
A decade before his death by ritual suicide in 1970, renowned Japanese writer Yukio Mishima agreed to be "subject matter" for celebrated photographer Eikoh Hosoe. Thirty-five duotone photos from this collaboration are presented here in an oversize format (12x14.5") with evocative quotes from the Upanishads, the Code of Manu, and other texts, as well as a preface by Mishima and some text by photographer Hosoe. Multilayered in their feeling and drama, these photos were created, or more precisely unleashed, as the two visionaries investigated dark interior forces and the tensions of east and west. The original book, published in 1963 by Shueisha Inc. Tokyo, was entirely re-designed for an international edition in 1971. In 1985 Aperture re-published the 1971 edition with an afterword by Mark Holborn, and this is a reprint of that book. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
A decade before his death by ritual suicide in 1970, renowned Japanese writer Yukio Mishima agreed to be "subject matter" for celebrated photographer Eikoh Hosoe. Thirty-five duotone photos from this collaboration are presented here in an oversize format (12x14.5) with evocative quotes from the , the Code of Manu, and other texts, as well as a preface by Mishima and some text by photographer Hosoe. Multilayered in their feeling and drama, these photos were created, or more precisely unleashed, as the two visionaries investigated dark interior forces and the tensions of east and west. The original book, published in 1963 by Shueisha Inc. Tokyo, was entirely re-designed for an international edition in 1971. In 1985 Aperture re-published the 1971 edition with an afterword by Mark Holborn, and this is a reprint of that book. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Art & Photography
Book Info
