Thursday, October 06, 2011

Photographer Hisaji Hara's Homage to Balthus


LENSCRATCH posted an interesting series of works by Tokyo photographer Hisaji Hara (done in 2009 and exhibited in Tokyo last year at Gallery Bauhaus). These works are based on the compositions of Balthus' paintings (shown above: "Katia Reading", an image that I have on the wall of my studio). Hisaji Hara's photographs show classic Japanese school girls and others posing for the camera in the exact same poses of the figures in Balthus' paintings. This series of photos has a B&W vintage look and are meant as an homage to a great painter.
Balthus was a painter who carefully chose unique poses to show the unselfconsciousness of youth or to emphasize dramatic angles in a composition. (Balthus, who died in 2001, had a Japanese wife, Setsuko Ideta, and many of his own paintings were influenced by Japanese art. I miss Balthus.) 
Follow this LINK for many more examples of Hisaji Hara's homage to Balthus. 

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