Kansuke Yamamoto was born in Nagoya, 1914 in a family who was running a small photography supply store and studio. After he graduated from the Nagoya Second Commercial School, he moved to Tokyo to study French in Athénée Français and French Literature in Meiji University, focusing in French poetry but decided to quit and return to Nagoya after about a year. Deeply committed to dadaism and surrealism, he started writing poetry in the 1930s and began making photography works in 1931. Yamamoto co-founded “Dokuritsu Shashin Kenkyukai” (Independent Photography Research Association) and published his first piece of work “The Developing Though of a Human... Mist and Bedroom” in the association's regular journal “Dokuritsu” (Independent). In 1939 he also formed a group called “Nagoya Photo Avant-Garde” and became a member of “VOU” where he published his poetry and photography works. After the Second World War, he has also formed avant-garde photography group “VIVI” (1948–1950) and many other groups such as “Honoo (Flame)” (1955–1961) and "ESPACE” (1956–1958), while in 1949~1954 he has also joined the “Bijyutsu Bunka Association”. Yamamoto died of lung cancer in April, 1987 when he was 73. Some of his recent exhibitions are: “Yamamoto Kansuke: Conveyor of the Impossible” at Tokyo Station Gallery, Japan and “Japan's Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto” at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.