LONDON.- For the first time in over 20 years,
Hamiltons is presenting the work of esteemed photographer Hiro. This retrospective of Hiros photographs is just a small selection from his diverse and dynamic ouevre and displays Hiro, as he is widely regarded, as a photographer unlike any other.
Known for the originality of his photographs, Hiros photographic career began at Harpers Bazaar in New York as a fashion, still-life and portrait photographer. Shortly after arriving in America from Japan in 1954, with his childhood memories of The Orient, which have a place in the genesis of his work, Hiro landed an apprenticeship in Richard Avedons studio. Avedon soon sent Hiro to legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch after he proved too talented not to work independently, and within a few years Hiro had risen to extraordinary fashion photography heights. In January 1982 American Photographer magazine devoted their entire issue to Hiro, asking the question Is this Man Americas Greatest Photographer? Hiro began working under Brodovitchs direction in 1956 and in 1963 he became the only photographer under contract at Harpers Bazaar, a position he kept for the next ten years. Now in his 80s, although no longer under contract, Hiro continues to take assignments with the magazine. Hiro lived up to Brodovitchs dictum, If you look in your camera and see something youve seen before, dont click the shutter. Richard Avedon described Hiro as a visitor all his life, enabling Hiro, neither completely Eastern or Western, to document both cultures in his work with a perception that only comes from a certain detachment.
Hiros work is characterised by surprises, abnormalities, unusual lighting, Surrealism, the unreal and an astounding and constant vision. Hiro sees beauty in the extraordinary, and this is evident from the selection in the present exhibition. In his body of work Fighting Fish, of which there is one example here, taken over ten years, Hiro marvels at the notion of survival in the battles of the fish, discovering beauty where one could not imagine finding it. Traditionally, these scenes would present no aesthetic, however Hiros genius is in discovering what others would not.
Part of Hiros genius lies in his ability to transform the most mundane objects or delicate features... A toenail, the pupil of an eye, a mouth or a light-switch are seen with the same concentration. Concentration is Hiros most obvious quality. When he takes the whole theater of fashion to the beach, he returns with a metaphysical contemplation. (Mark Holborn) To look at a photograph of Hiros is to come face to face with a picture rife with unusual lighting effects, surprising angles, juxtaposing elements and bold colours.
Another key aspect of Hiros method is his preparation and unrelenting precision. His exactitude is not, however, a hindrance to his creativity nor an unnecessary obsession, but rather the means to his creativity and innovation. Hiros assistants always pass the camera to his left hand when he is photographing. This meticulousness is all part of Hiros ritual of focusing and intensifying the gaze. His preparation is second to none; the research conducted for a fashion shoot is worthy of an intelligence operation or a social science exercise. He is said to change in the studio from the affable figure to the rigorous disciplinarian.
Hiros work is published in three monographs and is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, George Eastman House, New York, the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Musee Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, The J. Paul Getty Museum, LA, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and Kobe Fashion Museum, Japan, amongst others.