Tamotsu Yato, born circa 1928, died 1973, left behind three important but virtually forgotten books of photography -- "Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan" (1967), "Naked Festival: a photo essay" (1969) and his masterpiece, "Otoko: Photo-studies of the Young Japanese Male" (1972). While the first two books have a definite appeal with their barely-clad subjects, they are still rather straightforward presentations of their subjects. On the other hand, "Otoko" was very definitely the work of a gay man taking photographs meant to appeal to other gay men.
More to come from Mr. Yato soon...!
4 comments:
Hi!
Great to see Yato's artwork posted online! He was a wondeful photographer for sure!
I've actually started a Wikipedia article about him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamotsu_Yato
Please feel welcome to edit/expand it...
I'll chip away at your 99% gay male audience by stating that I am a heterosexual woman who appreciates the beauty of Yato's work. It doesn't surprise me that many of the models are heterosexual. After all, they are models. These are not voyeuristic photographs; they are carefully crafted pieces of art which pay homage to the male body. Allow me to add, a very hunky male body.
幹你娘糙機掰
Thaanks great post
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