“I SIMPLY WANT TO RECORD LIFE”: TWO-VOLUME PLACES AND PORTRAITS, SIGNED BY KITAJIMA ON THE SLIPCASE

KITAJIMA, Keizo. Places; Portraits. (Tokyo: Photographers’ Gallery, 2003). Two volumes. Oblong octavo, original coated photographic paper covers. Housed together in original cardboard slipcase. $350.

Later edition of this striking pair of companion photobooks of Japanese places and people by experimental photographer Keizo Kitajima, published in conjunction with his 2003 exhibition at Tokyo’s Photographers’ Gallery, signed by him on the verso of the slipcase.

Kitajima lives in Tokyo and specializes in urban photography—the city streets of Tokyo and Okinawa. Friend of his mentor Daido Moriyama, Kitajima produces photographs that “belong to a long tradition of urban street photography and… have a subtle, seeping power. Nearly every one of them catches some element of personal tensions, yearnings” (New York Times). First published in 1993 for the inaugural exhibition.

A fine signed set.