ゲバラ写真集チェ/ Guevara Shashinshu Che

Tokyo: Gendai Shokan, 1969. First edition. Square 8vo. Saddle-stapled in wraps. 136pp.; illus. Printed on various paper stocks, with overlaid Japanese text throughout. Creasing and wear to corners of wraps; soiling and fading to rear cover; 3.5" closed tear from base of one leaf; the usual toning to textblock. Good to very good.

A photobook telling the story of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara (1928-1967), as compiled under the pseudonym Buenos no Hi (The Light of Buenos) by members of Japan's legendary avant-garde photography collective Provoke. Published in the immediate aftermath of the third issue of Provoke magazine, the book's bold layout combines appropriated images with texts by and about Guevara. Provoke members Koji Taki and Takuma Nakahira were the work's principle compilers, although Daido Moriyama was also reportedly involved in curating the photographs. A scarce and striking publication, exemplary both of the gritty, blown-out style Provoke has come to be revered for, and of the revolutionary spirit that motivated their work. OCLC reports just six holdings of this title, only three of them in the United States.