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Even A Doll Can Do It - Kazuki Takamatsu
Using countless transparent layers of gouache, Japanese artist Kazuki Takamatsu creates paintings that mimic 3D depth mapping technology. Takamatsu executes this holograph-like effect entirely by hand, giving his viewers a glimpse into an illusory world populated by ghostly, Lolita-esque figures. Takamatsu recently opened his solo show, “Japanese Ideology of Puberty”
I was in Chicago for New Year’s just a few weeks ago and, luckily, I took my 1972 Canon FTb with me. My trip was a 30 hour trip just for my boy’s wedding, so I didn’t really reach out to anyone for shooting purposes. I managed to make time for a few hours the day of his wedding to explore the city a little bit. I took my camera, a box of film rolls, and started walking around. Mind you it was 7 degrees. Just 7. What the fuck? Where’s the 7 behind the 7? Why isn’t it 77? After repeatedly asking those questions to a homeless man and getting no response, I decided to move on and explore further. And that’s when I came across her. She was wearing a Burberry trench coat with heels, walking down the street like she was about to put someone in jail. She was going from one building to the next, so she wasn’t all covered in North Face and snot. Her walk was very strong and her posture confident. I rarely ever approach random people to photograph them, but I had to make an exception.
I went up, introduced myself, and told her what I do. She became intrigued but wasn’t sold completely. I told her that I would walk with her to the next block and if she didn’t trust me by then, I would go my separate way. When we got to the next block, she turned to me and asked for my phone. She typed in an address into my Google Maps and told me to meet her there at 2pm sharp. I got to the address, which ended up being a hotel in the city, and found her in the lobby. She told me that the only way she would let me photograph her is to never mention her name and to never completely show her face. She happens to be the daughter of someone of importance, so she couldn’t risk having their family name “tarnished.”
We went to her room and the rest is what you see here. I had one hour until I had to be back at my hotel to get ready for the wedding. We shot, she got me a private car, and, for once, a shoot had a story worth writing about…
