HIRO
Welcome to the temporary landing page of what will be the official website
for the archive of the photographer Hiro
HIRO
Welcome to the temporary landing page of what will be the official website
for the archive of the photographer Hiro
Welcome to the temporary landing page of what will be the official website
for the archive of the photographer Hiro
Welcome to the temporary landing page of what will be the official website
for the archive of the photographer Hiro
Hiro, as he was known professionally, was born Yasuhiro Wakabayashi in 1930 and grew up in China and Japan before immigrating to America in 1954 to study photography. In 1956, he was hired by Richard Avedon who quickly recognized Hiro’s talent and introduced him to the legendary art director of Harper's Bazaar, Alexey Brodovitch. Brodovitch invited Hiro to join the magazine in 1958 and by 1963 he became the only photographer under contract, a distinction he held for more than a decade.
Hiro was known for his intense focus, precise attention to detail, and technical mastery of the medium. He frequently defied conventional aesthetics by conceiving of unexpected juxtapositions with the resulting images intensified by a delicate balance of inventive lighting, vivid colors, and dynamic compositions or perspectives, which also often imbued his work with a sense of the surreal.
Hiro is regarded as having influenced generations of photographers and in a 1965 issue of Camera magazine, Avedon wrote of him, “He is no ordinary man. He is one of the few artists in the history of photography.”
PHOTO: Betta Splendens #02018, New York, 1981.
Apollo Spaceflight Training Suits, Houston, Texas, 1978
All photographs © 2023 the Estate of Y. Hiro Wakabayashi, except as indicated otherwise. Elsa Peretti Bone Cuff © 2023 The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation.
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