Barakei by Ekioh Hosoe
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Publisher: Shuei-sha, Tokyo
Year: 1971
Format: Elephant folio (15 1/4 x 21 1/4 in.) Clothbound in black velvet. White cloth portfolio with full-colour pastedown illustrations on the interior. 39 gravure and 6 color reproductions.
Edition: First
Condition: Book is in Fine condition; portfolio is Near Fine- with typical foxing to the exterior. Including original cardboard box.
Considered to be one of the most complex and beautifully produced photography books ever published, this re-edit of Ekioh Hosoe's Barakei (Killed by Roses), 1963, was a collaborative project between Hosoe, reknowned designer Tadanori Yokoo and Yukio Mishima, who appears in the photographs. Mishima himself re-ordered Hosoe's original images into five sections: 'Sea and Eyes'; 'Eyes and Sins'; 'Sins and Dreams'; 'Dreams and Death' and 'Death'. The book's design was intended to act as a memorial to Mishima, who was planning on committing ritual suicide to coincide with the book's publication, however Mishima committed public suicide by seppuku in December of 1970. The book was published the following year.