Sasuke by Masahisa Fukase

**Masahisa Fukase ~** From Sasuke, ca. 1977. Atelier EXB | src ODLP ~ l’œil de la photographie

This publication is dedicated to Masahisa Fukase’s emblematic series on his two cats: Sasuke and Momoe, combining unpublished and iconic images. In 1977, Fukase turned his lenses on his new companion Sasuke. Growing up with felines, he decides with the arrival of this new cat in his life that it would become a photographic subject in his own right, fascinated by this creature full of life named after a legendary ninja. Sasuke disappears after ten days and the photographer sticks hundreds of small posters (as featured on the cover of the book) in his neighborhood. A person brings back his cat, yet it is not Sasuke but never mind he welcomes this new cat with as much affection. One year later, he takes a second cat named Momoe, entering the frame as well and he will never get tired of photographing their games. They become for the Japanese photographer a boundless experimental field leading to an extraordinary body of work in its technical and visual inventiveness.

As often in his work, this series shows a form of projection of the photographer into his subject. The cat, a faithful companion who never leaves him, takes the place of his wife, eternal heartache, later represented by the iconic fleeing crows.

His cats have been the subject of several books in his lifetime and Tomo Kosuga has dug into the photographer’s archives to conceive this ultimate book as the achievement of a series of publications devoted to his cats. / text: Atelier EXB

**Masahisa Fukase ~** Front cover from Sasuke. Texts by Masahisa Fukase and Tomo Kosuga | src Atelier EXB

Finnish cats on Caturday

Haukotteleva kissa. A Yawning cat on the steps, Summer of 1931. JOKA : Journalistinen kuva-arkisto | src Museovirasto

A woman with two kittens in her arms 1935. Photo: Pietinen | src Museovirasto

**Pekka Kyytinen ~** The cat is taught to swim in Särkijärvi, 1937-1939 | src Museovirasto

**István Rácz** ~ Three kittens, 1959 | src Museovirasto

**Kari Rainer Pulkkinen ~** Kittens in a basket, 1967-1969 (Detail). JOKA : Journalistinen kuva-arkisto | src Museovirasto

The pet koala · 1890s

Pet koala owned by the Davey family, Terranora Lakes eating out of a spoon and cup. ca. 1890. Photo: F. J. Davey. | src Tweed Regional Museum

Pet koala (sitting on a chair) owned by the Davey family, ca. 1890. Photo F. J. Davey | src Tweed Regional Museum

Hilja Raviniemi radiographs

**Hilja Raviniemi ~** Untitled (Flowers), 1960s. Collection of the Finnish Museum of Fine Arts | src Valokuvamuseo · IG

**Hilja Raviniemi ~** Shell design, 1970. Suomen valokuvataiteen museon kokoelma. | src Fall 2023 exhibition

Hilja Raviniemi (née Nieminen, 1915–1973) dedicated her life to art photography at a time when it was still a niche phenomenon in Finland. The art photography scenes consisted of amateur photographers’ clubs’ regional and international exhibitions. Letters from international exhibitions addressed to “Mr. Hilja Raviniemi” show that photographers were assumed to be men. Hard work helped “Hili” rise to the top of the male-dominated world of amateur photographers’ clubs. She was the first woman to become chair of the Association of Finnish Camera Clubs, and she was awarded the international honEFIAP title, which was only allowed to be simultaneously carried by a select few photographers in the world.

After her more traditional early work, Raviniemi explored the infinite creative possibilities offered by the darkroom, especially in the 1960s. Her recognizable blue era, which differed from the stark black-and-white art photography of the time, began in the late 1960s. Chemist by profession, Raviniemi was an ingenious artist in the darkroom. In addition to blue-tinted prints, she also created completely abstract photographic artworks using different techniques. Raviniemi’s workplace at the University of Helsinki photography department laboratory also allowed her to make the first artistic radiographic images in Finland. Hundreds of Raviniemi’s radiographic works have been preserved and make up an exceptional ensemble of works in the history of Finnish art photography. In the current exhibition, carefully constructed exhibition prints are accompanied by experimental material that grants us a glimpse of Raviniemi’s curious personality and sense of humor, along with eccentric pictures of cats.

Hilja’s husband, chemist Eero Raviniemi (1911–1996) was also an accomplished photographer and pioneer of color photography in Finland. After Eero’s death, the Raviniemi family’s photography collection was donated to the Finnish Museum of Photography.

quoted from: Hilja Raviniemi: Sinisen kosketus (A Touch of Blue). Fall 2023 exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Photography (link)