© Masahisa Fukase
Currently not on view
Ishikawamon, Kanazawa,
1977
Masahisa Fukase 深瀬昌久, Japanese, 1934–2012
x1986-120
Silhouettes of ravens and their gleaming eyes emerge from the shadows in this photograph. Ravens are part of daily life in Japan, but because they are dark, small, and constantly moving, they are particularly difficult to capture in film. Between 1976 and 1986, following a divorce, Masahisa Fukase wandered through Hokkaido prefecture, his birthplace, as well as Kanazawa, his ex-wife’s birthplace, and took pictures of the desolate landscape to underscore his solitude. This photograph is included in his 1986 publication Ravens.
Information
Title
Ishikawamon, Kanazawa
Dates
1977
Maker
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 30.6 x 44.9 cm. (12 1/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
sheet: 40.4 x 50.7 cm. (15 7/8 x 19 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Robert Gambee, Class of 1964
Object Number
x1986-120
Place Made
Asia, Japan
Signatures
Signed in ink, below image right: M. Fukase
Inscription
In ink, verso: 1977 [Japanese chracters] / 1978 [Japanese characters] [the Japanese is a signature, title, date for both negative and print]
Culture
Techniques
Subject
- Mark Holborn, Black Sun: The Eyes of Four (New York: Aperture, 1986).
- Masahisa Fukase, Ravens (Yokohama: Sokyu-sha, 1986)., p. 71
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1986," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 46, no. 1 (1987): p. 18–52, p. 36
- Masahisa Fukase, The Solitude of Ravens (San Francisco: Bedford Arts Press, 1991)., plate 71
