BUTŌ, The Recurring Torments of the Pugilist (Collector's edition)

Amélie Ravalec
BUTŌ, The Recurring Torments of the Pugilist (Collector's edition)

Photographs: Amélie Ravalec

Publisher: Lone Gentlemen Publishing

100 pages

Year: 2022

Price: 70 €

Comments: Hardcover, b&w photographs, 30,4 x 42,1 cm, number 11 out of 50 copies. In very good condition. Signed by Amélie Ravalec. Includes an exclusive USB card of the 15 minutes BUTŌ film.

BUTŌ seeks to capture the intensity of the human body in motion, the lithe bodies of dancers Max Cookward and Paul Scott-Bullen colliding against the dense and forceful power of boxer Andrew Downer. Playing with the shadow and the light, ghostly movements and eerie dance, BUTŌ delves into the feverish dreams of a tormented fighter.

Inspired by the traditional Butoh of Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, Eikoh Hosoe’s iconic portraits of Mishima in Barakei, William Klein’s Tokyo 1961 Butoh photographs and Shūji Terayama’s Boxer, BUTŌ is a homage to the Japanese avant-garde.

Concept, direction and photography by Amélie Ravalec, additional photography by Dimitris Mastroyiannis.