Born in 1947, Hitoshi Fugo studied photography at Nihon University in Tokyo. After graduation he worked for Eikoh Hosoe, a leading postwar photographer in Japan. In 1973 he went freelance and lived in New York and Paris for the next several years. He traveled extensively in 1980s and 1990s to India, Mexico and the U.S. The images he shot there were later made into the black-and-white series BLACKOUT, which will be exhibited at IBASHO.
In theatre, the word “blackout” refers to the moment in which the stage lights are extinguished to indicate the passage of time. Almost entirely shot in India, the pictures in this series tread a fine line between light and shadow, life and death. As human moments alternate with raw matter and the patterns of nature, BLACKOUT invites us to question the power of photography and its relationship with the ever-changing flow of time.
Outside of Japan Fugo’s work has been featured in a number of gallery and museum shows including “Japanese Photography Today” (Spain, 1986) and “Japanese Contemporary Photography” (Germany, 2000). In 2010, Fugo was awarded the prestigious Ina Nobuo Award.

Artists: Hitoshi Fugo