Eikoh Hosoe's Man and Woman (Japanese: 男と女) is an exploration of the human body, sexuality, and emotional tension, created primarily between 1959 and 1960 in Tokyo, Japan. This project played a key role in establishing Hosoe’s presence in the Japanese photography scene during its formative years.
Man and Woman emerged during a time of intense social and political unrest, shaped by the 1960 Security Treaty protests—nationwide demonstrations against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty that ignited broader debates on national identity, political power, and cultural independence. The tumultuous environment galvanized Japanese artists, encouraging expressions that probed deeper into personal and collective psyches. Hosoe's photographic approach deliberately shifted away from the prevailing social realism toward what he termed "subjective documentary", highlighting internal states and psychological narratives rather than external realities.
Central to Hosoe’s artistic vision in Man and Woman is the tensions, complexities, and interactions between the sexes. The images explore eroticism, emotional intimacy, and power dynamics, reflecting Hosoe’s own internal conflicts and perspectives. His collaboration with Tatsumi Hijikata, founder of the avant-garde Butoh dance, significantly influenced the project's thematic depth. The interaction between photographer and dancer infused the photographs with a choreographic intensity, translating bodily movements and emotions into still images.
Aesthetically, Man and Woman features grainy, high-contrast black-and-white compositions. Hosoe employed tight framing and dramatic lighting to accentuate the contours and interactions of the models, frequently isolating body parts to create a sense of abstraction. The absence of detailed backgrounds further intensifies the focus on the bodily form and interaction, enhancing the images' emotional charge.
Published as a photobook in 1961, the series had debuted a year earlier in a solo show at Konishiroku Photo Gallery, Tokyo (1960), where it earned Hosoe the Japan Photo Critics Association Newcomer’s Award and the Fuji Photo Contest Professional’s Award. It has since appeared in major contexts including New Japanese Photography at MoMA, New York (1974); the U.S. touring retrospective Eikoh Hosoe: META (1990s); Eikoh Hosoe: Curated Body 1959–1970 at Miyako Yoshinaga, New York (2013); Mémoire et Lumière at MEP, Paris (2017); and Celebrating 90 Years of Eikoh Hosoe: Feel the Passion! at FUJIFILM SQUARE, Tokyo (2023).
