Kanoh has built an impressive career in photography and, after graduating from Nagoya City Industrial Arts High School, his earlier days were spent studying under Toichi Ogawa and Takashi Kijimi, two photographers known for elicit nudes and flowers. After which he pursued freelance photography and entered into the realms of fashion and advertising. In 1969, more specifically, Kanoh started collaborating with the men’s magazine Heibon Punch. A “youth culture bible with weekly sales of one million copies,” he explains, “as a freelancer, I was frequently featured on the nude page at the beginning of the book.” Heibon Punch’s first overseas feature was to document the people and streets of New York and, in 1969, Kanoh travelled there to do so. “It was around the time when one dollar was 360 yen, and it was a hippie culture at the time. Sure, there were hippies in New York. But at the same time, when I went to London, I felt that there were many more hippies. In New York, people of different races and classes, including young people gathering in Central park, were mixed in different ways.”

Kanoh continued to shoot nudes in various locations around the city, which included the Empire State Building, Central Park, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge and Harlem – “they were all guerrilla shoots,” he adds, observing and taking note of the many fascinating people and artists walking by. One of those artists was Yayoi Kusama, known for her sculptures, installations and her famed Infinity Mirror Rooms. “I heard that there was an artist who performed with a thin cloth on nudists at Central Park,” he says, “that was Yayoi Kusama.” As things played out, Kusama invited Kanoh to visit her studio in East Village, following with the words: “I’ll perform for Kanoh-san.” To much surprise upon arrival, more than 10 men and women were having an orgy. Body parts splayed in front of him, and a sense of confidence and freedom diffused in the atmosphere; it was utter protest and revolt to the current climate, and Andy Warhol was among those who'd joined in. “I was surprised because I hadn't heard anything in advance, although I had no choice but to shoot!”

The result of which is Kanoh’s acclaimed series FUCK, a psychedelic, rousing and performative documentation of those who attended Kusama’s orgy. In Kanoh’s eyes, the group appeared to be close friends, or those who’d usually get together for similar events. “They were very relaxed and enjoyed the orgy,” he recalls, assuredly circling the event as an onlooker, while taking pictures along the way. His subjects appear theatric in their behaviour, often posing, kissing, gesturing, performing in front of Kanoh’s lens and positioning their bodies in artful compositions. “When I ordered the poses, everyone was happy to do it,” he notes, “but basically they liked it the way they wanted.” At once the images are cinematic as much as they are freeing – it’s certainly not your typical pornographic display that might be encountered at an event of this kind.

But it's not just the subject matter that was unusual (and groundbreaking) for its time. Kanoh also shot the series in colour, applying warping and kaleidoscopic hues so that the work would appear to have gone through a dreamscape filter. An aesthetic that was like no other during the 60s, it was an idea that came about after developing one of his images in New York – during which the lips of a white woman appeared yellow, “the blood vessels appeared through the white skin, and the brown hair appeared bright red,” he explains. “As for the colour, there was a hue that had never been seen before.” This particular shade was caused by an infrared colour film and filter, as well as some experimental use of cellophane, resulting in a sharp contrast to the typical shade of monochrome employed at the time. “I heard that this film was developed for a reconnaissance aircraft for the US military to bond the North during the Vietnam War, to distinguish between the imitation jungle and the real jungle created by Viet Cong,” adds Kanoh. “It was very experimental.”

After the making of FUCK – an apt title considering the provocative nature of his imagery and ethos in general – Kanoh proceeded to have his work shown in a solo exhibition, during which the police were called and he was told to remove three of his photos. “And the next day, I became ‘the man of the hour’ and people fantasised about me as an opinion leader.” He’s had many works censored over the years, not only with Fuck, but also with an unpublished series of LGBTQ people shot in New York around 1994, “but I think it's difficult to publish in Japan. When the day comes when I can account for it, this means that the times have caught up with me.”

Still to this day, FUCK, and all of his works for that matter, beholds much pertinence for its vivid documentation of that which usually remains hidden, covered beneath clothing, doors, societal pressures and expectations. The nude, in particular, is still “under the umbrella of regulation” in Japan, says Kanoh, and he has a few words for any young photographers who are considering breaking the barriers like he did: “Do more!”