Emotional Waves: Butoh and Contemporary Dance

Dance art meets photo art: Performances of Butoh and contemporary dance

Claude Hofer’s publication is the first book of its kind to explore and document the internationally renowned dance genres of Japanese Butoh and contemporary dance. Over the course of ten years, the Swiss photographer traveled to countries around the globe and met more than one hundred mostly artists in both dance genres who performed specifically for his camera. The focus of his intense black-and-white photographs is unmistakably on the people themselves. With an impressive sense of the right moment, Hofer has captured the dancers in highly emotional photographs that reveal a unique and profound connection between body and mind.

Claude Hofer is a Swiss photographer, who has a background in finance. In 2020 he graduated from the photography program at the Swiss School of Journalism (MAZ) in Lucerne. Hofer has dedicated himself almost exclusively to Butoh and contemporary dance in recent years, where he has travelled many countries around the globe to meet artists from both dance genres, most of whom performed especially for his camera.