Ravens

Consistently proclaimed as one of the most important photobooks in history, Ravens, by Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase, was first published in 1986 and the two subsequent editions were short runs that sold out immediately. This bilingual facsimile of the first edition contains a new text by the founder of the Masahisa Fukase Archives, Tomo Kosuga. His essay situates Ravens in Fukase's work and life, and is illustrated with numerous newly discovered photographs and drawings.

Fukase's haunting series of works was made between 1975 and 1986 following a divorce and was apparently prompted by a grim train ride to his hometown. The coastal landscapes of Hokkaido serve as the backdrop for his deeply dark and impressionistic photographs of ominous flocks of crows. The work has been interpreted as a sinister allegory of postwar Japan.