Eikoh Hosoe was one of the leading figures of postwar Japanese photography. Through collaborations with Yukio Mishima and Tatsumi Hijikata, among others, he produced numerous works that explored the body, life and death, and the fundamental nature of human existence, leaving a profound influence on photographic expression worldwide.
This book is the 2002 Aperture edition of Ordeal by Roses, Hosoe’s landmark work featuring the writer Yukio Mishima as its subject. Set against the backdrop of 1960s Japan, the book is composed of densely charged images in which the body and spirit, beauty and death, theatricality and photographic expression intersect. It is not only one of the defining works in the history of postwar Japanese photography, but also a monumental photobook that expanded the possibilities of the medium.
Ordeal by Roses Eikoh Hosoe Aperture, 2002 263 × 369 × 18 mm Signed, with slight rubbing to the corners
