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Document: Kōen (The Park)

Artist Kohei Yoshiyuki (Japanese, born 1946)

Publisher Seven-sha, Tokyo

CultureJapanese

Date1980

Medium78 black and white photo reproductions in a bound softcover book

Dimensions10 1/4 × 8 3/8 in. (26 × 21.3 cm)

PortfolioFirst edition

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank

Object number2016.12.2

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a softcover book that includes 78 black and white photographic images. There are 112 pages with 78 images. There is an illustrated jacket (with a small tear). The images are organized into three parts. Part one (60 pages) includes images of heterosexual couples and voyeurs. Part 2 (20 pages) includes images of homosexual couples and groups in the park. Part three (16 pages) includes images from a “love hotel” tv screen showing pornographic movies. The book closes with a text in Japanese: 7 pages of a conversation between Yoshiyuki and Matsumoto Kenichi, 4 pages of a conversation between Yoshiyuki and Nobuyoshi Araki, and a 1 page statement by Yoshiyuki.
Label TextKohei Yoshiyuki Japanese, born 1946 Document: Kōen (The Park), 1980 78 black and white photo reproductions in a bound softcover book While walking through a park in Tokyo, Japan, Kohei Yoshiyuki noticed a couple having sex on the ground and a group of men watching them. Yoshiyuki outfitted his camera with infrared film and an infrared flash and returned to the park to capture the couples and onlookers. The series can be seen as a commentary about Tokyo’s rapid growth and cultural notions of privacy, modesty, and desire. It also raises questions about photography’s inherent voyeurism. The couples are being watched by the photographer, and we repeat the act when perusing the book. Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2016.12.2 ProvenancePurchased at auction from Ader Nordmann, Paris, by Chrysler Museum of Art, May 12, 2016.Exhibition History"5 Years of Photography: Building the Chrysler Collection," Photography & Focus Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, June 26 - November 10, 2019.