Monday, 25 July 2016

Keizo Kitajima Shashin Tokkyubin Okinawa - Photo Mail from Okinawa (issues 1-4)

Tokyo. Parolu-sha. 1980. First Edition. 4 volumes, Small 4to, ca 20pp each. Printed wraps as issued. Numerous Black & White plates. Text in Japanese. From a very small print run, with few copies surviving. The original negatives and photographs have long since been lost. More images available on request. . Hardcover.. Book: Near Fine. .

A complete set of Photo Mail Okinawa, originally produced for his show at CAMP in 1980. No institutional copies at the time of writing, in addition Kitajima reputedly does not have a file copy of the work himself. Very new wave and somewhat zine-ish in feel, they document the people and Scenes of Koza- primarily hostesses, drunkards and African American G.I.'s. The photographs are harsh, haphazard and a filled with a sense of chaos and urgency, channeling an almosy punk like energy. Reads like a gritty and seedy parallel universe. A post Provoke/Workshop masterpiece.