Keizo Kitajima: New York

New edition of the classic body of work, which saw Keizo Kitajima photographing New York in the 1980's.

In his late twenties, photographer Keizo Kitajima left Japan for New York city, moving into an apartment in the East Village for a nine-month stay that straddled 1981 & 1982. He soon settled into a routine- at 10am each morning he would set out into the streets with his camera, returning home at dusk for a rest before heading out again to explore the city’s endless, wild nights. Shooting nearly 1000 rolls of film he created an intense, dynamic portrait of the city’s underside. 

Indeed, the New York in which he made temporary residence was a city in decline. In his photographs derelict cars sit clutter the streets in a city of graffiti, crumbling brick, and the look of hard-living on the faces of its citizens. And yet, to Kitajima’s fascination, these same people went about their days as if nothing was amiss. With the freedom of a visitor, his pictures are evidence real curiosity- and bravery. Like the pre-gentrified city, they’re tough, unapologetic, and raw. There’s an underlying brutality in the air- a Big Apple hardness that would probably have been unimageable to the average Tokyoite of the time. Then again, these streets look like they’re from a different dimension today.

 
Originally published by Byakuya Shobo in 1982, Keizo Kitajima's New York has long been a sought-after photobook, this new book adds a series of colour images from 1986-1989, some of which were featured in his equally sought-after book A.D. 1991.

This new edition features an afterword by Keizo Kitajima and an essay by Shino Kuraishi, in both Japanese and English.