Consistently proclaimed as one of the most important photobooks in the history of the medium, Solitude of Ravens by Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase was first published in 1984 and the two subsequent editions have both been short runs and have sold out immediately. This bilingual facsimile of the first hardback edition is accompanied by a booklet positioning the body of work in the history of Japanese photography and Fukase’s oeuvre.

Fukase’s haunting series of work was made between 1975 and 1982 in the aftermath of a divorce and was apparently triggered by a mournful train journey to his hometown. The coastal landscapes of Hokkaido serve as the backdrop for his profoundly dark and impressionistic photographs of ominous flocks of crows. The work has been interpreted as an ominous allegory for postwar Japan.

Photographs by Masahisa Fukase. Mack, London, England, 2017. 136 pages, 80 black-and-white illustrations. 10¼x10¼".