Yasuhiro Yoshioka (吉岡康弘) - Avant-Garde 60s (アヴンギャルド 60s) - 1999

Yoshioka Yasuhiro (1934-2002), both a photographer and cinematographer, was a pioneer of avant-garde eroticism in the 1960s! This book that is published by Shinchosha in collaboration with PhotoMusée contains a collection of his photographic works that consist of several series:

> Early work published in 1963 - that consists of radical erotic expressions modelled on the sex symbol Yoshihiro Wakabayashi.
> An Atlas of Human Sexuality (published in 1969) - that investigates the erogenic zones.
> Love (published in 1971) - intimacy between humans and animals
> Unpublished Works by Wakabayashi Yoshihiro (photographed in 1971) - self portaits and erotic moments of a seductive yet tormented artist.
> Sodom's Paradise (published in 1971) - A group of women in nature, a pregant woman being worshipped, and a sexual encounter
> One, Two, Three... (published in 1975) - hands counting mixed with erogonic zones

Am extensive diary of over 100 pages is included of his interactions with the avant garde community in Japan and the West as well (particularly Man Ray). Yoshioka Yasuhiro first describes the early period in Japan when he started as a photographer, how he experimented with film and setup, how he found his lifetime model, and his struggles to cope with the many times that his work was banned. Following that, he describes the cinematographic projects with many different directors that he was a key partner in, and the friendships that he developed all along with the prominent avant garde artists, both inside in Japan as well as in the West. He recounts remarkable events from this period - such as the visit of Joh Cale to Japan, in which Yoko Ono (long before she met John Lennon) participated in performances, his participation in the Film festival in Cannes 1968 that conicided with the May revolution, his tear gas drenched visit to Man Ray, his working in New York and Okinawa, etc. Many happy events mix with sad events such as the suicide of his model Yoshihiro Wakabayashi, at about the same time when Marylinn Monroe took her life.

As the OBI summarizes it: a record of the youth of the avant-garde in the 1960s, a time when avant-garde art was all his passion!

The diary ends with a list of short bio profiles of all the key avant garde artists that played their part in this remarkable story. Scattered through the texts are documentary photographs that illustrate key events, such as for example Yoko Ono stretched out on the piano that is played by John Cale. A compilation of film posters closes the book.

An English translation of the diary drafted by the seller is included. It allows non Japanese speaking buyers accessing the Japanese text, and thereby being able to grasp the atmosphere of this era through the adventures and eyes of a participant.

Yoshioka Yasuhiro had a productive life: his photo books include "Yoshioka Yasuhiro Works Collection" (1963), "ATLAS OF HUMAN SEX" (1969), "Beast Love" and "Sodom's Paradise" (1971), and a lithogram photo book "One, Two, Three...". His film stills include "Woman in the Dunes" and "Another Person's Face" (both by Teshigahara Hiroshi), "Ghost Story" (by Kobayashi Masaki), "Pleasure", "Murder in the Daytime" and "Considerations on Japanese Spring Songs" (all by Oshima Nagisa). His filmography includes "Suicide Double Suicide: Summer in Japan", "Death by Hanging", "The Return of the Drunkard", "Diary of a Shinjuku Thief", "Boy", "Sister in Summer", "KYOTO MY MOTHER'S PLACE" (all by Oshima), "White Morning" (by Teshigahara), "A Bully", "Poem of the Demon", "Tales of Tono", "Tales of Kunisaki", and "Kamigata Kurukaisoushi" (all by Murano Tetsutaro).

The book from 1999 is as new, fresh out of the shrink wrap to allow taking photographs and translating texts.

ISBN 4-10-602435-7