The exhibition “Pas de Deux” brings together the photographs taken by Eikoh Hosoe and those taken by William Klein of Kazuo Ohno (1906-2010), the cofounder of the Japanese dance form Butoh. “Pas de Deux” also interrogates the performative aspect of the photographic act. In 1961, William Klein went to Tokyo and created photographic work that would be published in 1964 under the title Tokyo. Fascinated by a changing city making its definitive turn towards modernity, Klein explored its neighbourhoods with the onsite help of Eikoh Hosoe and the members of the VIVO collective, which the latter had cofounded. The masterly book “The Butterfly Dream” (2006) recounts the intense collaboration between Eikoh Hosoe and Kazuo Ohno from 1960 through 2005. Beyond the idea of a photographer recording an ephemeral performance, this is an artwork in which Kazuo Ohno dances for the camera of Eikoh Hosoe, who, in return, stages and directs him through photography, in such a way that it becomes impossible to tell who is leading whom.
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