Vivo was a short-lived Japanese photographic cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

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Eikoh Hosoe

Eikoh Hosoe

is a Japanese photographer and filmmaker who emerged in the experimental arts movement of post-World War II Japan. He is known for his psychologically charged images, often exploring subjects such as death, erotic obsession, and irrationality...

, Kikuji Kawada

Kikuji Kawada

is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...

, Ikkō Narahara

Ikko Narahara

is a Japanese photographer. Born in Fukuoka, Narahara studied law at Chuo University and, influenced by statues of Buddha at Nara, art history at the graduate school of Waseda University ....

, Akira Satō

Akira Sato

was a Japanese photographer noted for his photographs of girls and of Europe.Satō was born on 30 July 1930 in Tokyo. While a student of economics at Yokohama National University he was an avid reader of Life and other photographic and fashion magazines at the American CIE library in Hibiya. He...

, Akira Tanno

Akira Tanno

is a renowned Japanese photographer.-References:...

, and Shōmei Tōmatsu

Shomei Tomatsu

is a Japanese photographer.Born Teruaki Tōmatsu in Nagoya in 1930, Tōmatsu studied economics at Aichi University, graduating in 1954. While still a student, he had his photographs published by the major Japanese photography magazines. He entered Iwanami and worked on the series Iwanami Shashin Bunko...

 — six of the participants of the celebrated 1957 exhibition Jūnin no me — formed the Vivo cooperative in July 1957, naming it after the Esperanto word for "life." They shared an office and darkroom in Higashi Ginza

Ginza

is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...

 (Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

), marketing and distributing their own work. Kōtarō Iizawa

Kotaro Iizawa

is a Japanese photography critic, historian of photography, and magazine editor.Born in Sendai, Miyagi in 1954, Iizawa studied photography in Nihon University, graduating in 1977. He obtained his doctorate at University of Tsukuba....

 terms their office "the epicenter of the 'image generation's' photographic expression," and the members' activities "a prime example" of the way Japanese photographers of the time "confronted head-on the transformation of modern Japanese society."

The group disbanded in June 1961.

Retrospectives have included a major exhibition at the Shadai Gallery.