Masahisa Fukase's project Ravens (Japanese: 烏) was created between 1976 and 1985, during a significant transitional period in Fukase’s personal life following his divorce from his second wife, Yoko Wanibe. Primarily photographed in his birthplace of Hokkaido, alongside Tokyo and Yoko's hometown of Kanazawa, the work emerged against the backdrop of post-war Japan's complex societal landscape, characterized by shifting cultural narratives and a burgeoning interest in subjective artistic expression.
Influenced by the Provoke movement's visual ethos, Ravens reflects an introspective exploration of isolation, loss, and personal anguish. Fukase uses ravens metaphorically, representing his own emotional turmoil, solitude, and inner fragmentation, a symbolic alignment underscored by his enigmatic declaration of having "become a raven."
Visually, the project employs stark, high-contrast, grainy black-and-white imagery typical of the Provoke aesthetic, characterized by dynamic and occasionally blurred compositions. The birds are frequently depicted in desolate, wintry environments or ominously silhouetted against bleak skies, enhancing a somber, melancholic mood. Fukase notably employed experimental techniques, including flash photography to capture ravens at night, highlighting their glowing eyes and contributing to the unsettling atmosphere. He also experimented with multiple exposures, color film, and Polaroid formats, expanding the project’s conceptual depth.
Published in 1986 by Sokyusha (with later editions from Bedford Arts, Rat Hole, and a 2017 bilingual facsimile by MACK), Ravens grew out of the 1976 solo show Karasu—which earned Fukase the 2nd Ina Nobuo Award (1977)—and has since anchored major presentations from Black Sun: The Eyes of Four (MoMA Oxford, 1985–86) to later surveys at Michael Hoppen (London, 2016), Les Rencontres d’Arles (2018), Foam (2018), and Pier 24 Photography (2024–25). In 2010, a British Journal of Photography panel named Ravens the best photobook of the preceding 25 years, affirming its status as a touchstone of postwar Japanese photography.
