Keizo Kitajima "Back To Okinawa 1980/2009"
Andrew Roth
This event has ended.
In 1980, Keizo Kitajima, a recent student from Daido Moriyama’s “Workshop,” photographed the nightlife in Okinawa. He preferred the clubs and bars in Koza, the “red light district,” situated near Kadena, the American Air Force Base. Koza was a hub for American military throughout the 1950s (it flourished during the Vietnam War and no longer exists), although Okinawa and its citizens are still deeply impacted by the American military presence. In the tradition of Watanabe Katsumi, Kitajima made his living by selling photographs to his subjects. It was most profitable for him on paydays.
As there were few galleries for photographic exhibitions in Japan, Kitajima planned to self-publish the photographs he made in 1980 as Photo Express Okinawa, a bi-monthly periodical; he realized merely 4 volumes. The images in this show and the accompanying limited edition book (Back To Okinawa 1980/2009), were generated by scanning the material from the rare, original volumes. Back to Okinawa affords us the opportunity to view this material fresh. Ten silkscreens were issued and every image from the four volumes was re-edited into the new publication. Kitajima has added a short text, translated into English, which illuminates his development as a young photographer and his experience in Okinawa.
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Schedule
from April 16, 2009 to June 06, 2009