A Chronological History in Brief
Edited by Yuri Mitsuda
1933
Born on March 18, the second son of Yonejiro (father) and Mitsu (mother), at his mother?s parents house in Yonezawa-shi, Yamagata Prefecture, he is named Toshihiro. He is brought back to Tokyo when he was three months old and spent his childhood in Ueno, Kanda and several other areas. He has two brothers, his elder brother, Uichiro, was killed during the Second World War and his younger brother, Isao, presently lives in Milan where he works as an industrial designer.
1939
This year his family moves to Katsushika.
1940
His father becomes the caretaker of the Shirahige Shrine in Yotsugi, Katsushika, Tokyo.
1944
Evacuated to his grandparent?s house in Yonezawa.
1945
August: In Yonezawa for the war?s end.
September: Returns to his home in Tokyo.
1947
His cousin recommends that he change his name to one more suite to the new era and from that time on, he adopts the name ?Eikoh.?
1949
April: Enters Sumidagawa Senior High School where he joins the English-language club and the photography club. His classmate, Nobuya Yoshimura, who later goes on to become a photo-critic, joins the photography club.
1950
From around this time he begins visiting the American military housing area. Grant Heights in Nerima, Tokyo every Sunday to study English. For several years following this, he photographs American children.
1951
Wins the top prize in the ?Fuji Photo Contest? (Student?s Section) for his work Poddie Jawoski and makes up his mind to become a photographer.
1952
April: Enters the technical department of the Tokyo College of Photography (called ?Shadai,? now known as the Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics).
November: His picture entitled Child is selected for the November edition of Shashin Salon. The critic, Tatsuo Fukushima, sees this work and expresses an interest. They meet and they remain friends to thepresent day.
Autumn: Fukushima introduces him to the ?Demokrato? artists? group, where he meets and visits the home of Ei-Q, its leader, who is to have a powerful influence over him.
1953
He is strongly influenced by the ?Edward Weston Exhibition? that is held at the American Culture Center in Shiba, Tokyo.
1954
March: Graduates from the Tokyo College of Photography and decides to become a freelance photographer. He begins working for photographic and women?s magazines.
1955
June: Publishes a book entitled 35mm Snaps by Kogaso.
1956
May: Holds an exhibition of a photo-story entitled, ?An American Girl in Tokyo? at the Konishiroku Photo Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo. It consists of photographs mounted on panels together with text and represents his first solo exhibition.
1957
May: Participates in the first ?Eyes of Ten? exhibition at the Konishiroku Photo Gallery, Ginza, with a series of works entitled. Children?s World?A Record of a Kindergarten?s Activities. Curated by Tatsuo Fukushima, this revolutionary exhibition aims to present a form of photographic expression appropriate for the new age. The other photographers in this exhibition were: Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, Shun Kawahara, Akira Sato, Akira Tanno, Shomei Tomatsu, Toyoko Tokiwa, Masaya Nakamura and Ikko Narahara.
This year his family moves to Kameari. His father opens a shop dealing in photographic materials.
1958
July: Participates in the second ?Eyes of Ten? exhibition at the Konishiroku Photo Gallery, Ginza, with a work entitled. Young Sisters in the Nude. Curated by Tatsuo Fukushima, this exhibition consists solely of works that are shot in color. The other contributing photographers were: Kikuji Kawada, Akira Sato, Akira Tanno, Shomei Tomatsu, Masaya Nakamura and Ikko Narahara.
Summer: Opens a communal office in Ginza with the people who are later to form ?VIVO.?
1959
May: He is deeply impressed by Tatsumi Hijikata?s ?Butoh? recital KinjikHDa?iWi Seimei Hall, Tokyo) and the two became friends.
July: Participates in the third ?Eyes of Ten? exhibition at the Konishiroku Photo Gallery, Ginza, with works entitled. The Crazy Gods. Curated by Tatsuo Fukushima, the other contributing photographers were: Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, Akira Sato, Akira Tanno, Shomei Tomatsu, Masaya Nakamura and Ikko Narahara.
July: Becomes one of the founders of an agency named VIVO at Tsukiji. The other founders were Kikuji Kawada, Akira Sato, Akira Tanno, Shomei Tomatsu and Ikko Narahara. VIVO is Esperanto for ?life.? Tatsuo Fukushima was not an official member of the agency but took on the role of moderator. The idea of starting an agency to promote the work of the member photographers was based on that of the Magnum agency.
December: Ed van der Elsken visits Japan, he meets Hosoe and the two become friends. Elsken tells him that his works are ?very Japanese photographs,? and this leads him to think deeply about the meaning of being Japanese.
1960
April: His second solo exhibition ?Man and Woman? is held at the Konishiroku Photo Gallery, Ginza.
This year the above exhibition receives the ?Most Promising Photographer Award? from the Japan Photo Critics Association. Together with Jun Miki, he is also awarded the ?Photographer of the Year Award? at the Fuji Photo Contest.
Around this time he starts working on a series entitled Embrace but upon seeing Bill Brandt?s Perspective of Nudes, he feels it is too similar and abandons the project.
July: His photographs appear on the brochure for Tatsumi Hijikata?s 306 Dance Experience (Daiichi Seimei Hall, Tokyo). This brochure is subtitled, Eikoh Hosoe?s Portofolio, Dedicated to Tatsumi Hijikata. The majority of the photographs that were taken in the studio were later to form part of the book Man and Woman. This brochure is seen by the novelist Yukio Mishima and arouses his interest in Hosoe?s work.
August: Directs an experimental movie entitled. Navel and A-Bomb (story, scenario, direction), starring Tatsumi Hijikata, Yoshito Ohno, etc. Music: Norio Maeda, Sadao Watanabe etc. Poetry: Taro Yamamoto.
October: Navel and A-Bomb shown at the ?Modern Jazz and Film Festival? (Yurakucho Video Hall, Tokyo). Shuji Terayama, Shuntaro Tanikawa, etc. also participated.
1961
June: Daido Moriyama comes to Tokyo from Osaka for his serious interest in VIVO, and he becomes Hosoe?s private assistant.
July: VIVO is disbanded. Although it did well economically, the members decided to close it down in order to be able to dedicate themselves to their independent work. The joint office and laboratory at Kojimachi remained in operation until July 1962 (its name being altered to ?Room 43?).
September: The book Man and Woman is published by Camera Art. Poetry by Taro Yamamoto, comments by Ed van der Elsken and Tatsuo Fukushima.
September: Photographs appear in the brochure for Tatsumi Hijikata?s Dance Experience 2 (subtitled, Eikoh Hosoe?s Portofolio, Dedicated to Tatsumi Hijikata).
November: Yukio Mishima?s book of critical essays. The Attack on Beauty is published by Kodansha and Hosoe produces the cover and a portrait of the author. Mishima was so impressed by the pictures of Hijikata that he asked Hosoe to do the work. As a result of this job, Hosoe asked Mishima to model for him and the sessions, which started in September, lasted for six months.
1962
January: Submits Killed By Roses for the photo exhibition ?NON? at Matsuya, Ginza. This title was given by Mishima at Hosoe?s request. The name of the exhibition, curated by Tatsuo Fukushima, is an abbreviation of ?NON-TRADITION, NON SECTION? and its aim was to present the new .directions in which photography was moving to the world at large. Other exhibitors included Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, Akira Sato, Akira Tanno, Shomei Tomatsu, Hisae Imai, Osamu
Hayasaki, Masaya Nakamura and Ikko Narahara. April: Marries Misako Imai (the younger sister of Hisae Imai).
This year he opens a private office in Honshio-cho, Shinjuku.
1963
January: His son, Kenji, is born.
March: The book Killed By Roses is published by Shueisha, Tokyo. Foreword by Yukio Mishima, design by Kohei Sugiura. The book wins the ?Photo Critic Society Artist Award? for this year.
This year he exhibits Killed By Roses in the ?Contemporary Photography ?63? exhibition at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester.
1964
April: Travels to America and Europe for the first time.
Meets Toyo Miyatake in Los Angeles.
Reunites with Ay-0 in New York and comes into contact with the work of Fluxus.
Meets Nathan Lyons who works at George Eastman House. Reunites with Elsken.
May: Gaudi?s architectures in Barcelona have an overpowering effect on him when he sees them for the first time.
This year he moves his home/office to Wakaba-cho in Shinjuku.
1965
August: His first daughter Kanako is born.
September: Invites Hijikata to go on a photographic trip to the letter?s hometown in Akita. The two continue to take trips at irregular intervals in the future in order to photograph.
October: Collaborated with Kon Ichikawa on the documentary film project, Tokyo Olympics directing Judo and Modern Pentathlon.
This year he travels to America and Europe and continues to go to abroad every year after this.
This year he moves his home/office to Daikyo-cho, Shinjuku.
1966
July: Takes part in the exhibition ?Ten Photographers? at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, with his works. Kimono. Other contributors to this exhibition were: Kichisaburo Anzai, Akira Sato, Kishin Shinoyama, Yutaka Takanashi, Shomei Tomatsu, Haruo Tomiyama, Ikko Narahara, Yoshinobu Nakamura, Noriaki Yokosuka.
1967
The English edition of Taka-chan and I is published by Norton & Co., New York. Text by Betty Jean Lifton.
Takes part in the ?Photography in the Twentieth Century? at la Galerie Nationale du Canada, Ottawa, curated by Nathan Lyons.
1968
March: A one-person exhibition entitled, ?An Extravagantly Tragic Comedy?A Photographic Drama Starring the Japan?s Butoh Genius, Tatsumi Hijikata,? is held at the Ginza Nikon Salon, Tokyo. The photographs in this exhibition were taken over the course of several shooting locations and later formed the basis of the book Kamaitachi.
June: Makes every effort to ensure that Ed van der Elsken?s book, Sweet Life, published in Japan by Tokyo Photographic College Publications.
September: Curates the exhibition ?World Masters of Photograph ? From the George Eastman House Collection? organized by the Japan Professional Photographers Society.
1969
January: Holds a one-person exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. where he shows Man and Woman. This is his first overseas? exhibition.
April: Visits Switzerland, London and travels the U.S. Signs an agreement with the Focus Gallery in San Francisco to sell
his original prints.
May: The photo-critic, Nobuya Yoshimura publishes a magazine entitled, The Photo Image and Hosoe helps with the editing. The first edition carries 32 pictures from his Embrace.
November: The book Kamaitachi is published by Gendai Shichosha. Foreword by Shuzo Takiguchi, poetry by Toyoichiro Miyoshi, design by Ikko Tanaka. He moves his home/office to another part of Daikyo-cho, Shinjuku.
1970
January: Holds a one-person exhibition of ?Killed By Roses? at the Focus Gallery, San Francisco. This exhibition later traveled to the Phoenix College Library Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona. March: Receives the ?Minister of Education Award for Arts? for
Kamaitachi.
September: The Man and Woman series are bought for the Smithsonian Institution and he is asked to sign the prints. As a result of this, he becomes aware of the importance of original prints as artistic works and travels to America to study the preservation and collection of photographs. After this, he works to educate people in Japan concerning the importance of original prints and the creation of public collections.
November: While work is underway to republish Killed By Roses (English language edition), Yukio Mishima commits ritual suicide causing publication to be postponed.
This year an English edition of Return to Hiroshima is published by Athenium, New York. Text by Betty J. Lifton.
This year he moves his office to Aizumi-cho, Shinjuku where it remains to this day.
1971
January: The new edition of Killed By Roses is released and the name changed to Ordeal by Roses by International Edition, Shueisha. Preface by Yukio Mishima, design by Tadanori Yokoo. February: Hosoe?s second daughter, Kumiko, is born. May: He holds a one-person exhibition at the Gallery Shunju, Ginza. Featuring works from Ordeal by Roses, Kimono, Kamaitachi and Embrace, it represents the first time he offers original prints for sale in a Japanese gallery.
May: Embrace is published by Shashin Hyoronsha. Preface by Yukio Mishima, afterword and design by Eikoh Hosoe. This book included details for purchasing original prints.
August: Simmon Yotsuya?s Prelude is shown in The Photo Image. This name was applied by the magazine?s editor and when it was continued later, Hosoe named it, Simmon: A Private Landscape. This year he moves his home to Nogata in Nakano, Tokyo.
1972
He comes to an agreement with the Light Gallery in New York for them to market his prints in America and Canada.
He meets Ansel Adams. He gives a lecture at the Rochester Visual Studies Workshop directed by Nathan Lyons.
1973
April: He photographs company presidents and has them published as a series in the Chuo Koron Magazine?s Seasonal Keiei Mondai under the title ?Modern Day Elders.?
May: He holds his first workshop at Phoenix College, Arizona. He holds a one-person exhibition at the Light Gallery, New York. Works include Ordeal by Roses, Kamaitachi and Embrace.
June: He holds a workshop at Columbia College, Chicago, at the invitation of Cornell Capa.
1974
March: Ordeal by Roses and Man andWoman are shown in the ?New Japanese Photography? exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Curated by John Szarkowski and Shoji Yamagishi, it includes works by Ken Domon, Ryoji Akiyama, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Tetsuya Ichimura, Ken Ohara, Kikuji Kawada, Bishin Jumonji, Shigeru Tamura, Hiromi Tsuchida, Shomei Tomatsu, Masatoshi Naito, Masahisa Fukase, Ikko Narahara and Daido Moriyama.
April: He establishes and takes part in ?The Photo WORKSHOP School? in Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, a free school by up-and-coming photographers. Other participants include Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama, Masahisa Fukase, Nobuyoshi Araki, and Noriaki Yokosuka. An accompanying seasonal journal entitled WORKSHOP is published in September and runs for eight editions. The school is disbanded in 1976.
June: Takes part in the ?From Photograph to Photograph? exhibition at Mato Grosso in Shinjuku, Tokyo. This exhibition was organized by the members of The Photo WORKSHOP School and in addition to his own work, Hosoe also showed his photography collection including Talbot?s Pencil of Nature.
August: He runs a workshop in Yosemite, California, at the invitation of Ansel Adams.
1975
April: He is offered a professorship at the Tokyo College of Photography (called ?Shadai,? now known as the Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics) and agrees on condition that they establish a collection of photographs and a public gallery on the campus.
May: The college establishes the Shadai Gallery in Nakano, Tokyo. Having made efforts to see to its establishment, he has since been in charge of the Shadai collection and the planning of exhibitions.
August: He runs another workshop in Yosemite at the invitation of Ansel Adams.
This year he shows Simmon: A Private Landscape at the Light Gallery, New York.
1976
February: He exhibits his Simmon: A Private Landscape in the ?Selections by Twelve Photographers ? Photographs for Sale? show at Shiseido The Ginza, Ginza,Tokyo. Organized by The Photo WORKSHOP School, major works are sold for thirty thousand yen each. Other participants are Nobuyoshi Araki, Daido Moriyama, Noriaki Yokosuka, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Hajime Sawatari, Yoshihiro Tachiki, Ikko Narahara, and Jun Morinaga.
June: He participates in the International conference at Les Rencontres International d?Arles de la Photographic and holds a workshop there. October: He shows his Ordeal by Roses in the ?Neue Fotographie aus Japan? exhibition at Kulturhaus, Graz, Austria. Curated by Otto Breicha. A total of twenty-two photographers take part, including, Shomei Tomatsu, Ikko Narahara. The exhibition later traveled around Europe.
This year he also gives two lectures at the University of Arizona in Tucson on the subject, ?History of Japanese Photography after World War II? and ?On Eikoh Hosoe by Eikoh Hosoe.? While he is there he is presented with an honorary citizenship of Tucson.
1977
February: Participates in the Second International Photography Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Begins to seriously photograph Gaudi?s works.
May: He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?Gaudi? at the Nikon Salons, in Ginza, Shinjuku and Osaka.
December: Travels to Barcelona once more to photograph Gaudi?s works and remains there until January of the following year.
1978
January: Visits Joan Miro in Majorca.
October: Shows his works in the exhibition ?VIVO: Six Japanese Photographers? at The Santa Barbara Museum of Art. This exhibition travels to the Shadai Gallery 1981, before becoming a part of the collection of the Tokyo College of Photography.
1979
January: Takes part in the ?Japanese Photography: Today and its Origin,? at the Galleria d?arte moderna. Bologna. This exhibition later traveled around Europe.
Spring: The exhibition ?Eikoh Hosoe?Kamaitachi? at the Silver Image Gallery, Ohio State University, Columbus. This exhibition then traveled to Salzburg, Austria (August) and Lausanne, Switzerland.
June: Holds a workshop at Les Rencontres International d?Arles de la Photography.
June: Travels to Barcelona to continue his photography of Gaudi?s work.
August: Holds a workshop at Salzburg College.
This year he also held a retrospective exhibition at the Photographers? Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
1980
January: Travels to Barcelona where he photographs Gaudi?s architectures.
May: He holds a one-person exhibition at FNAC Forum, Paris, where he shows Ordeal by Roses and Kamaitachi. This exhibition then travels to Antwerp in Belgium, Zurich and Basel in Switzerland. October: He is invited to Paris to attend the Mois de la Photo S Paris.
1981
Elected the Vice-President of Japan Professional Photographers Society.
This year he holds a one-person exhibition at the FNAC Forum in Lille, France, which later travels to the Toulouse FNAC Forum. This year he moves his home to Kugayama ip Suginami, Tokyo.
1982
This year, while preparing prints for exhibitions, he noticed that the test prints that were torn by hand could became an art-form in themselves and mounted them on card. He names these works, ?Mini-Graphs.?
February: He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?The Human Figure 1960-1980,? at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Rochester, N.Y.
March: He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?Hosoe Eikoh Retrospective 1960-1980? at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?Hosoe Eikoh: Kamaitachi and Selected Photographic Books? at the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester. Curated by Nathan Lyons.
These three exhibitions from Rochester were later rearranged into one
and traveled around the U.S.
August: He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?35 Pioneers of ost-war Economic Growth in Japan? at the Fuji Photo Salon, Ginza, Tokyo. October: He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?Hosoe Eikoh Retrospective 1960-1980? at la Musee de art moderne de la Ville de Paris. He is presented with ?Medaille de Vermeille de la Ville de Paris? for this exhibition.
October: Human Body is published by Nihon Geijutsu Shuppansha.
This represents a collection of his work selected from Embrace, Ordeal by Roses and photo works from the eighties he took during his workshops. This year Navel and A-Bomb took part in ?Japanese Experimental Film, 1960-1980? curated by Donald Richie and sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. This exhibition traveled to sixty locations around the U.S.
1983
June: He is invited to Les Rencontres International d?Arles de la Photography where he holds a workshop. While he is in Aries, he presents a slide show of his Gaudi photographs. He is given the Honorary Award at the festival.
September: He holds a one-person exhibition at the Light Gallery, New York where he shows his recent work. This exhibition makes the reopening of the gallery.
1984
July: Edits the book The Photographs of Toyo Miyatake is published by Bungeishunjusha.
September: Publishes The Cosmos of Gaudiby Shueisha. Foreword by Shuzo Takiguchi (reprint), poetry/illustrations by Joan Miro, design by Yusaku Kamekura.
September: Publishes the Ordeal by Roses, the New Edition by Shueisha, Tokyo, designed by Kiyoshi Awazu. Publishes the English version of Ordeal by Roses by Aperture, New York. He holds a one-person exhibition entitled ?Eikoh Hosoe: Zen and Transcendence? at the Padiglione d?Arte Contemporanea, Milan. This exhibition features works from Ordeal by Roses, Kama-
itachi, Embrace and The Cosmos of Gaudi.
1985
September: He holds a one-person exhibition at the Burden Gallery, New York, featuring all the work from Ordeal by Roses.
?Eikoh Hosoe: Cosmos of Gaudi Original Color Print? exhibition is held at The Gallery Shunju, Ginza.
December: Submits his Kamaitachi work for ?Black Sun: The Eyes of Four? exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, U.K. Curated by Mark Holborn, in cooperation with Tatsuo Fukushima, it includes the works of Shomei Tomatsu, Masahisa Fukase and Daido Moriyama. This exhibition later travels to London and tours the U.S.
This year/I Place Called Hiroshima is published in English by Kodansha International. Text by Betty Jean Lifton.
1986
December: The exhibition ?Homage to Gaudi? opens at Printemps, Ginza, before touring the country. Film by Hiroshi Teshigawara, music byToru Takemitsu.
December: Takes part in the ?Japon des Avant Garde 1910-1970? exhibition at the Musee national d?art moderne Paris.
1987
January: Submits work for the ?Tatsumi Hijikata: Body on The Edge of Crisis? exhibition at Shibuya Parco, Part 1., Tokyo.
Summer: Travels to New York with his son Kenji to study platinum printing techniques under Gwen Akin and Alan Ludwig. After this, he works to promote the study and use of platinum prints. Autumn: He opens a studio in Kita-Karuizawa, Gunma Pref., to practice the techniques of platinum printing.
1988
June: The exhibition ?Photography: The World of Eikoh Hosoe? is held at the Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art in Ito, Shizuoka Pref., before traveling to the Niigata Municipal Art Museum; Tokyu Department Store, Shibuya, Tokyo; and The National Museum of Art, Osaka.
1989
October: Submits works for the ?Exhibition: Works of Tatsumi Hijikata? at the Yokohama Citizens Gallery.
This year serves as Chairman of the Committee for Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Photography.
1990
February: Holds the exhibition ?Eikoh Hosoe: Photographs1955-1988? at Houston Fotofest in Texas. This exhibition was a retrospective based on the works in ?Photography: The World of Eikoh Hosoe? and after opening here, it traveled as ?Eikoh Hosoe: Meta? in the U.S. and Europe until 1999.
1991
April: Ordeal by Roses is shown in ?Innovation in Japanese Photography in the 1960s? at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. November: He exhibits Man and Woman in ?Photographs in Japan 1955-1965? at Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum.
1992
Summer: Holds workshops at the Anderson Ranch Art Center, Colorado, and two other venues in the U.S.
1993
March: He introduces works from Luna Rossa, which utilizes solarization and other techniques, in ?Before Awakening: Toward the End of the Century,? I.C.A.C. Weston Gallery, Shinjuku, Tokyo.
July: Exhibits works from Man and Woman in ?Photographers Who Created a New Age 1960-70? at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
September: He attends the Third International Photomeeting, Republica di San Marino.
1994
This year he is named ?Best Photographer of the Year (1993)? by the Photographic Society of Japan.
February: He exhibits his Navel and A-Bomb in ?Scream Against the Sky,? curated by Alexandra Monroe, at the Yokohama Museum of Art. This exhibition travels to the Guggenheim Museum Soho and the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
1995
April: He exhibits Man and Woman and Ordeal by Roses to ?Traces of Post-War Culture 1945-1995? which opens at the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo before traveling to two other venues. July: Becomes the first director of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts.
1997
November: His photographs appear in Kazuo Ohno that is published by Shoshi-Seijusha.
November: T