In 1961, Masahisa Fukase's first solo exhibition, Kill the Pig, was
organized in Tokyo. The exhibition presents two series of photographs: one,
titled Kill the Pig and the other, titled Naked. The Kill the Pig series reveals
photographs taken at a slaughterhouse in Shibaura, Tokyo. The series includes
black and white photographs and color photographs. The other
The series on display, Naked, features images of Fukase himself and his girlfriend.
the era, Yukiyo Kawakami. One of the photographs in the exhibition stands out
nevertheless others. This dead baby is a very contrasting work which is composed
of two prints, one positive, the other negative, two black and white images
inverted, presented face to face. This stillborn baby is the first child of
Fukase and Yukiyo. In the exhibition, this work is clearly highlighted
obvious, as a reference point for all other images. It seems
that Fukase tries to highlight through this image, both positive and negative,
cruelty and the interconnection between life and death. This book brings together in one
only volume the photographs that appeared in this exhibition. As it
As Tomo Kosuga explains in his essay, he considers these images, which have remained in
the shadow for many years, as the starting point of the practice
photographic by Fukase.
