Masahisa Fukase’s ‘Yoko’ Returns in a New Light

Summary

Akaaka has released a republished version of Masahisa Fukase’s 1978 photobook, Yoko.
In addition to a newly-designed cover, this latest edition includes the oversight of and an essay by Yoko Miyoshi, the book’s muse.
Through a series of delicate images, Yoko chronicles the lifespan of a relationship and a love that grows sour, including Fukase’s famed Through Window (1974) series.

Masahisa Fukase’s “Through Window” (1974) documents a love on the edge of disintegration, as depicted through a series of intimate yet compulsive photographs. This collection chronicles the tumultuous decade-long relationship between Fukase and his wife, Yoko Miyoshi, as seen from their Tokyo apartment window. In each image, Miyoshi is framed by the apartment’s window; she appears radiant but distant, frequently caught in motion or deep in thought, always just out of grasp. As Yoko once noted, Fukase was an “incurable egoist,” focusing on her only through his camera lens. Their marriage ultimately ended by 1976.

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Approximately fifty years after its initial publication, Akaaka, a Japanese publisher, is reissuing Fukase’s book “Yoko” with input from the subject herself. This new edition explores the intricate and timeless themes surrounding the muse-artist relationship, aiming to provide a fresh perspective on one of photography’s most celebrated love stories by offering a more balanced view, reclaiming the artist’s gaze.

The book not only documents a crucial moment for their relationship, but also significantly impacts Japanese post-war photography as a whole. In a time when many photographers aimed to depart from traditional documentary styles, Fukase’s shift towards deeply personal domestic scenes influenced a broader trend that focused on emotional exploration and subjectivity.

Over its span, the book Yoko recounts the journey of a shared life, starting from the happiness of their honeymoon and exciting travels abroad. Regrettably, their relationship eventually dissolved, but Miyoshi’s monthly hospital visits to Fukase before his passing in 2012 continued. Remarkably, their tale remains relevant even now.

In a hopeful manner, we yearn for ‘Yoko’ – its expansive, liberated tone and deep emotional resonance – to rise again, flying gracefully through the current era and echoing anew within our own time. This profound work serves as a reflection on the price of visibility and the bittersweet wisdom that can only be understood in retrospect.

Yoko is now available via Akaaka for ¥6,500 JPY ($114 USD).

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