"Flash Up" by Seiji Kurata

Flash Up by Seiji Kurata is one of the most exciting photographic excursions into the seedy parts of 1970s Tokyo. Kurata, a natural who began his photographing career doing workshops with revered greats such as Daido Moriyama and Araki Nobuyoshi, takes us on a journey through the nightclub scene of Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, he shows us glimpses of the cocky, tattooed yakuza underworld and of violent Bosozoku street fights, contrasts car crash victims with portraits of nightclub hostesses and the horny salarymen groping them for money, documents ultra-right wingers in Meiji Jingu and on tour in the countryside.

This is the book that earned Kurata the Ihei Kimura award in 1980. His instinct for finding and framing interesting subjects translates into a remarkable document of the Tokyo nightlife. Unlike the more expressionistic styles of his “Provoke” teachers Moriyama and Nobuyoshi, Kurata’s medium-format photos possess an almost journalistic clarity and carry with them an air of documentary photography without sacrificing a certain energy and sense of immediacy. Furthermore, Kurata is talented in getting just enough information into his photos to allow for stories to unfold in the viewer’s head. Take his “Fighting after the Disco, 1978, Ikebukuro” as an example: a group of seemingly caring men surround a bleeding victim who is being helped, and while the viewer is pondering what might have led to all that blood shed on the street in the foreground, the eyes wander to the inconspicuous, well-dressed magician (?) in the crowd who poses and smiles for Kurata’s camera as if he’s ordered him to take his portrait.

Writes the artist in the afterword about his book, “Flash Up has a style, an attitude and consciousness that did not change from the beginning. It was accumulated during those four years after starting Street Photo Random in 1975. Above all, in the production of these “snapshot” photographs I searched for footholds whose existence was unknown, while ignoring the haphazardly distributed noise and information of our everyday world.

This world of photography is amazing. Here is the strangeness of the unknown and the surprise of the unforeseen. Even though it lasts only a moment, this brightly shining band that stretches across the sky, it can tell the story of all existence, all affirmed and all accepted.”

Originally published in 1980, this beautiful 2013 edition by Zen Foto Gallery features large high-quality prints of the original book and two essays by the artist himself in both Japanese and English.

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Edition: First Edition of 750
Publication Year: 2013
Condition: Excellent
Condition Details: Excellent overall condition: minor signs of wear.
Notes: All items are final sale.