Shinjuku 1965-97. Photographs by Katsumi Watanabe. Photo Musee/shincho Sha, Tokyo, Japan, 1997. Unpaged. Thick octavo (small size; appx. 300 pp.) First printing. Stiff wrappers in photo-illustrated dust jacket. Printed obi (belly band). Numerous full-page black-and-white reproductions.
The subjects in Watanabe's photographs are the prostitutes, street people, Drag Queens, entertainers and gangsters (Yakuza) that populated Tokyo's notorious Shinjuku district at night. Essentially, Watanabe made his living by selling the photographs to his subjects. He would offer three prints for 200 yen. A modest gentleman, Watanabe had a keen sensitivity to the natural posturing of his subjects which allowed them to uninhibitedly reveal their identities. He saw Shinjuku as a kind of stage and his photographs as documents the performers.
Fine in Fine dust jacket that has just a trace of wear to edges; Near Fine- belly band (two 1" tears with some adjacent creasing); some wear and fading. |
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