Gangs of Kabukicho

I bought Japanese photographer and man about town Watanabe Katsumi's "Gangs of Kabukicho" at OK recently. Katsumi worked the red light districts of Shinjuku Province in 1968 Japan. Shooting with an on camera flash, which was rare at the time, made his portrait services popular with the drag queens, gangsters, hookers, and night club patrons that worked and partied there at night. It also gives his work the feel of all the other masters of on camera flash like WeeGee, Arbus, Larry Fink, and Araki. And like those greats, he must have been amazing with people, as his subjects all seem really relaxed and for the most part happy....... or at least happily drunk.

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