Dr. Ikkaku Ochi: Medical Photographs from Japan Around 1900

By Ikkaku Ochi, Pierre Molinier, Wilhelm Gloeden

In an inconspicuous wooden box that had long gone unopened, Akimitsu Naruyama discovered 365 photographs of people with congenital and pathological deformations. After looking at just a few pictures,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3908247713
• ISBN13: 9783908247715
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Scalo Publishers
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.1"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Facinating Collection

this was a great addition to my library. i have a fascination for anything grotesque, especially medical journals. the pictures are wonderful, taken with great angles showing details of the diseases. my only regret is that it really is just a collection of pictures. it doesn't provide an explanation or details of the client or of the disease that they are suffering from. this would have been useful for others who view this book who do not have knowledge on the medical conditions that these people suffered from. apart form that, it's a great book

As Important a Document as it is Fascinating!

It is rare that the public has the opportunity to view 'medical abnormalities' in a platform that is not related to sideshows/circuses. This beautifully presented collection of people born with aberrant bodies, or who developed the sequelae of diseases once thought of as 'unclean' and therefore not to be observed, is the work of the Japanese physician Dr. Ikkaku Ochi a quiet genius who not only had the medical foresight to capture these stoic and brave patients on film, he also had the ability to compose images that are at once realistic and artistic. True, other photographers such as Diane Arbus sought out similar subjects and it is through those portfolios that we have a bit of an introduction to the myriad treasures of this volume. But given the fact that these photographs were all taken in the decade around 1900 and that they were taken by a consummately humanistic physician allows us to study and appreciate all the variations that nature can produce - in a manner of sanctity and respect for the human soul. This may not be a book for everyone, but for those who are devoted to photography and to medicine and to all the studies in between, this volume of Medical Photography from Japan circa 1900 is a humbly and warmly fascinating book. Grady Harp, March 05

Beautiful and disturbing

This collection of photographs is remarkable for several reasons: 1) the photos document the final stages of horrendous diseases (many of which are rarely seen these days); 2) the images are portraits of real individuals in great pain, but presented with stoic dignity; 3) it provides an insight into the remarkable level of surgical skill at work in Meiji-era Japan; and 4) the very survival of these photographs at all is something of a miracle when one considers they were sitting near ground zero when the American atom bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Truly, this is not a volume for the squeamish. In these pages one finds a startling array of diseases, from smallpox to the bacterial infections that ravished faces and limbs. Tumors, conjoined twins and leprosy each receive equal billing, and with often startling clarity. Also here are the before-and-after shots where one sees how Japanese surgeons excised tumors or reconstructed a missing nose, which is especially poignant when one considers the very rudimentary level of sterility and anesthesia available at the time. One can't help but be moved by these documents of human suffering and triumph, and then thank one's lucky stars that they live in an era of modern antibiotics and surgical practice. My one reservation (hence the four out of five stars) is that the captions for the photographs don't actually appear in the book itself, but rather on the publishing company's website. A bit more explanation readily at hand would have made many of the photographs less mysterious - or perhaps even more compelling.