Hiro Matsuoka - B’s Vanity, The Undescribed Dance & Scenes and Stories - 2007-2013

Hiro Matsuoka (Japan 1968) brings his work together in three self-published books. Each copy shows 39 black and white photographs in full page. He explores the possibilities of composition in square format, while remaining faithful to the characteristic uncanny ambience encountered in most of his pictures – an ambience carefully composed on the basis of perspective distortions, illusory games of light and other optical phenomena. Fragmented and unorthodox, his frames put their attention on advertising banners, screens and glass showrooms, all elements of routine everyday life and urban recreation areas. The interplay of out of focus images and reflections produces an alienating and bizarre effect, often on the verge of surrealism.

Despite the fact that Matsuoka’s photographs are non-staged instantaneous shots, his camera seems to capture a distant reality, far away from the banal. In the resulting overly unconventional compositions, the weight of the image falls from the center to the edges, fostering a sense of disequilibrium and uneasiness. Empty space dominates the center of the picture, while its protagonists are sent to the edge of the frame. Their faces are covered by shadows or appear vague and dissolved against the strong sun, and are often no longer recognizeable. The camera approaches the real but ends up registering its incomprehensible aspect. As if unwilling to be carried away by the obvious, it unravels, with a handful of irony, the grotesque language of advertising and mass media.

Thanks to the photographer we were able to put the 3 books in a set and can offer it at a reduced price.

The set consists of the following three titles:

Hiro Matsuoka – B's Vanity
Edition of 500. Matsuoka 2013. English. 72 pages, 39 ills. Duoton. 22 x 23 cm. 494 g. Hardcover with dust jacket.
Cover price 45,– €

Hiro Matsuoka – The Undescribed Dance
Edition of 500. Matsuoka 2010. English. 72 pages, 39 ills. Duoton. 22 x 23 cm. 504 g. Hardcover with dust jacket. ISBN 9789800072264
Cover price 45,– €

Hiro Matsuoka – Scenes and Stories
Edition of 500. Matsuoka 2007. English. 72 pages, 39 ills. Duoton. 22 x 23 cm. 504 g. Hardcover with dust jacket. ISBN 9789800062289
Cover price 45,– €