For over fifty years, internationally acclaimed photographer Eikoh Hosoe has been producing cutting edge works demonstrating a unique mastery of the photographic medium. Early on in his career he abandoned the documentary style prevalent in the post-war years and produced work that breathed a sense of experimentation and freedom into photography. By calling on mythology, metaphor and symbolism his images broke the bounds of traditional photography. Hosoe developed a unique style situated at the crossroads of several different art forms, combining photography with elements of theatre, dance, film and traditional Japanese art. To this day he continues to push the boundaries of photographic expression.
Hosoe began to gain recognition in the late 1950s with the series Man and Woman (1959). Through the writer Yukio Mishima, Hosoe was to meet Tatsumi Hijikata, one of the founders of Butoh dance. From the beginning of his career, Hosoe has been linked to and inspired by Butoh. This revolutionary performance movement formed in the post-war years, integrating elements of German expressionism and Japanese dance to search for a new social identity in the wake of defeat. After seeing Hijikata’s performance adapted from the novel Kinjiki (Forbidden Colours) by Yukio Mishima in a small Tokyo theatre, Hosoe was inspired and he began photographing the Butoh dancer, a collaboration which continued for many years.

Seit über 50 Jahren steht der Japaner Eikoh Hosoe, geboren 1933, für außergewöhnliche fotografische Arbeit.
Bereits in der frühen Phase seines Schaffens trennte sich Hosoe vom dokumentarisch geprägten Fotografierstil der Nachkriegsjahre, um seine einzigartige Handschrift zu entwickeln. In vielen seiner Arbeiten verbindet er die Fotografie mit Elementen aus Theater, Tanz, Film und traditioneller japanischer Kunst. So stellt Hosoe bis heute die Grenzen der fotografischen Ausdrucksmittel immer wieder in Frage. In den späten 50er Jahren machte er durch seine Serie „Man and Woman“ (1959) zum ersten Mal auf sich aufmerksam.
°Clair zeigt Arbeiten aus drei Zyklen: „Man and Woman“ (1959), „Barakei“ (1963) und „Kamaitachi“ (1965-1968).