Wild life photography, sort of — The Park by Kohei Yoshiyuki
Devouring Photobooks #29
When I was flipping through this book, it instantly reminded me of how people say we are just animals. We live in cities, stuff ourselves in public transports, covered ourselves with mass-produced garments, amuse ourselves with internet porno.
In the highly modernised city of Tokyo where people were brought up in a relatively reserved culture, it surely come as a surprise to me when I found out these parks in Shinjuku, Yoyogi, and Aoyama are a regular sex spot for thrill seekers and voyeurs alike.
Shrouded by the darkness of the night, the thirst for intimacy got the best of them as they let their desire take the reins. Even though the time and place isn’t ideal, their thirst for each other overpowered rational thoughts. It is in fact, quite romantic.
Forgive the poorly taken photos. They are reference only books in the library, so I did not have the luxury to take it home and photograph it in a more ideal situation.
Of course, being in a semi public space, there is no avoiding prying eyes.
Japanese people were said to be rather reserved but there is certainly a fair share of voyeurs in the country, coming out to play during night time. They crawled on the ground stalking their prey like predators do.
While some of them are content with watching at a distance. More adventurous voyeurs crept up on the oblivious couples, even tried to ‘participate’, sneaking a grope here and there. Somewhat like scavengers feeding on others’ prey.
It is quite amazing how people’s inhibition had been lowered under the cover of the night.
As if to further strengthen the “humans are animals” motif, Yoshiyuki used infrared film and a strobe wrapped with red gel to photograph this project. As a result, the figures glow silvery. It reminds me of the infra red camera traps set to photographs wild animals.
We cannot be sure why the locations of choice are various parks in Tokyo instead of some more private locations. Maybe it was the thrill of being watched, or it was the heat of the moment that led them to act that way. Either way, the desperation for physical contact and connection was apparent in the photographs.
Overall, Yoshiyuki’s bold documentation of Tokyo’s outdoor sex culture made this one of the more unique projects that I have had the pleasure of viewing.
Thank you for reading.
(Read more photobook musings here)
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