In 1962, Fukase was commissioned by Camera Mainichi magazine to illustrate the opening pages of its June to December issues with a series of colour images. He set about the task enthusiastically, producing numerous photomontages in differing tonalities. He described his motivation as follows: “Surrealism’s legacy is found throughout art and poetry as a whole, even in the fields of design and film, but it scarcely features in photography apart from in some of Man Ray’s work. This notion is what inspired me to create this series.”
“As I’m a photographer my protagonists are always those objects in my line of sight, but my brain is not content solely with what my eyes can see, which is why, at present, I’m experimenting with complex operations, such as the superimposition of several negatives, multiple exposures, the creation of blurred effects by deliberately slowing down the shutter speed, or even b holding my camera in the air without looking through the viewfinder. One might refer to it, somewhat daringly, as automatic writing – an attempt at expressing synchronicity or the different strata of existence.”
The images in this series were originally conceived for publication and remained as positive films. More than half a century later, the original 4 x 5-inch films had deteriorated and their colours have faded. With the full support of Masahisa Fukase Archives, Benrido has made the first-ever edition prints from Masahisa Fukase’s series “Color Approach”.
Please inquire for avaiable editions at info_en@benrido.co.jp