playing on sexual discoveries, legends, and myths that
relate to Hosoe in his personal life. During the 1970s,
Hosoe began to show his work outside Japan, most
often in America, as well as holding photography
workshops at home and abroad. In 1972, Hosoe
met Cole Weston, son of Edward Weston whose
work he had admired since the early 1950s, and
agreedtotranslatetheDaybooks of Edward Weston
into Japanese.
Throughout his career, Hosoe has used the human
form, and the nude in particular, to explore issues of
identity and the spiritual self, although there is no
history of the nude in Japanese art photography
until early in the twentieth century. Hosoe’s photo-
graphs during the mid 1980s of the work of Spanish
architect Gaudi reveal his belief that Gaudi’s curvi-
linear flourishes have the sensuality of flesh. His book,
The Cosmos of Gaudi, was published in 1984—
although Hosoe had studied Gaudi’s work since
1964—and included drawings and poems by Joan
Miro ́. It was not until 1991 that Hosoe attained gallery
representation through Howard Greenberg/Photofind
Gallery, New York. Hosoe’s most recent series include
Luna Rosa(1990–1996) andPeople Concerned with the
Works. Today, Hosoe remains an important figure in
photography through his teaching and workshops (he
has been Professor of Photography at the Tokyo
Institute of Polytechnics since 1975). A retrospective
of Hosoe’s work,Eikoh Hosoe: METAtoured the
United States throughout the 1990s.
KateRhodesSeealso:Nude Photography; Photography in Japan;
Weston, Edward
Biography
Born Yonezawa, Japan, 18 March 1933. Attended Tokyo
College of Photography, Tokyo, 1952. Taught photo-
graphy workshops at Phoenix College, Arizona, and
Columbia College, Chicago, 1973–1974; taught at the
Ansel Adams Workshop in Yosemite, California, 1973–
1975; taught workshops in Arles, France 1976, 1979,
- Established The Photo Workshop School in
Tokyo, 1974–1977; Professor of Photography, Tokyo
Institute of Polytechnics, Tokyo 1975–. Gave workshops
in platinum printing, New York, 1987; received first
prize in the student group of the Fuji Photo Contest,
1952; joined the artists’ group Demokrato, 1953; helped
to found the photo agency VIVO, 1960. Most Promising
Photographer Award of Japan Photo Critics Associa-
tion, 1961; Photographer of the Year Award, Japan
Photo Critics Association; Award forBarakei from
Photo Critic Society, Japan, 1963. Living in Tokyo,
Japan.
Individual Exhibitions
1956 An American Girl in Tokyo; Konishiroku Gallery; Tokyo
1960 Man and Woman; Konishiroku Gallery; Tokyo
1968 An Extravagantly Tragic Comedy; Nikon Salon; Tokyo
and Osaka
1969 Man and Woman; Smithsonian Institute; Washington,
D.C.
1974 Eikoh Hosoe; Light Gallery; New York
1975 Simmon: A Private Landscape; Light Gallery, New
York; Spectrum Gallery, Barcelona
1977 Gaudi; Nikon Salon; Tokyo and Osaka
1979 Eikoh Hosoe: Retrospective; Photographers’ Gallery;
MelbourneEikoh Hosoe: Kamaitachi; Silver Image Gal-
lery; Ohio State University, Columbus; Studiengalerie
des Salzburg College; Austria, Portfolio Gallery; Lau-
sanne, Switzerland
1980 Ordeal by RosesandKamaitachi;FNACForum;Paris,
Paule Pia Gallery; Antwerp, Belgium, Nikon Gallery;
Zurich, Photo Art; Basel, Switzerland
1982 Eikoh Hosoe Retrospective 1960–1980;Museumof
Modern Art; Paris and Rochester Institute of Technology;
New York
The Human Figure 1960–1980; at George Eastman
House; Rochester, New York
1984 The Cosmos of Gaudi; Espace Printemps; Ginza, Tokyo
(traveled Japan until 1989)
1985 Color Works; Gallery Shunju; Tokyo
Ordeal by Roses; Burden Gallery; New York
1986 Homage to Gaudi; Printemps Ginza; Tokyo
1988 Photography: The World of Eikoh Hosoe; Ikeda
Museum of 20th Century Art; Ito, Niigata Municipal
Art Museum
1990 Photography: The World of Eikoh Hosoe; Museum of
Modern Art; Osaka, Tokyo Art Hall, Tokyo
Eikoh Hosoe: Meta; Houston Foto Fest, Texas; Cen-
ter for Creative Photography, Tucson, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
1991 Eikoh Hosoe: Meta; Midtown Gallery, International
Center of Photography, New York. Continues to travel
through 2001
1993 Before Awakening: Toward the End of the Century;
ICAC Weston Gallery, Tokyo.
2000 Eikoh Hosoe Photographs: Ordeal by Rose—the sha-
dow of Yukio Mishima; Eslite Gallery; Taipei
2000 Eikoh Hosoe: Photographs 1950–2000; Yamagata
Museum, Yamagata Prefecture and travelingSelected Group Exhibitions
1957 The Eyes of Ten; Konishiroku Gallery; Tokyo
1962 NON; Ginza Matsuya; Tokyo
1963 Contemporary Japanese Photography, 1961–1962; Na-
tional Museum of Modern Art: Tokyo
1966 Ten Photographers; National Museum of Modern Art;
Tokyo
1967 Photography in the 20th Century; National Gallery of
Canada; Ottawa (toured Canada and U.S. 1967–1973)
1974 New Japanese Photography; Museum of Modern Art;
New York
1975 Contemporary Japanese Photography: from the end of
the war to 1970; Tokyo, Nagoya, OsakaHOSOE, EIKOH