GANGS OF KABUKICHO
New York: PPP Editions / Andrew Roth Inc., 2006. Wantanabe Katsumi. 1st edition. Wraps. 1st edition, 2006. Fine. 4to., unpaginated, black & white images on thick paper. Bound in publishers illustrated stiff wraps with publishers clear acrylic sleeve. In publishers original shrink wrap, never opened. Fine. Item #26738
ISBN: 097154803X
The subjects of itinerant Tokyo portrait photographer Watanabe Katsumi's 1960s and 70s photographs are the prostitutes, street people, drag queens, entertainers and gangsters (Yakuza) that populated Kabukicho, the red-light district of Shinjuku, at night during that era. Watanabe made his living by selling these photographs to his subjects, offering 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 Kabukicho as a stage, and his photographs document the performers. To accompany the photographs collected in this volume, which borrows its title from Watanabe's first book, The Gangs of Shinjuku.
Price: $450.00