Japanese Digital Photo Book Inspires Fashion Photography
July 23rd, 2009. Published under Photography. No Comments.
The origins of the digital photo book go all the way back to the 1920s when a Japanese photographer Shinzo Fukuhara produced a series of photographic works in a printed book. This was the precursor for a still popular tradition in Japan to produce printed albums containing images of celebrities and icons of popular culture. The most famed of these of late are the works of Japanese photographer Shoichi Aoki based on a cult fashion magazine.
Fruits is a publication that has run since 1995 that documents Harajuku fashion as photographed by Shoichi Aoki. This phenomenon has grown over the years thanks to the publicity from the magazine, and every Sunday more of the Japanese youth culture turn up in bespoke items that have been customised for an individual and unique fashion statement.
Harajukyu is a district in Japan, and the fashions evident on the streets are often the inspiration for top designers when creating new styles each season. Fruits has since become a digital photo book, the sales of which have inspired fashion conscious youngsters the world over. The format is simple, each page is dedicated to an individual, with a full page colour picture and a brief description of the inspiration behind what they have chosen to wear. This can be as random as ‘postman turns gothic’ to ‘Vivienne Westwood meets Prada’.
The lack of text is a common feature of digital photo books, the aesthetics of which focus on a high resolution image. As a reference book Fruits, and the sequel Fresh Fruits is a coffee table favourite in design houses the world over. The format of the magazine originally created by Aoki has influenced many other fashion magazines such as ID, which focuses on providing visual information and inspiration rather than text based analysis.
Another Japanese trend, which is to dress up as a hero or heroine from anime or manga cartoons, known as Cosplay, has increased in popularity through digital photo books too. Cosplay is a contracted abbreviation of costume roleplay, and has been liken to performance art as participants often take on the personality of the character they are dressed as.
Alongside the Harajuka fashions, these form an important part of Japanese culture and expression, and the publication of images in books help bolster this. The penchant for collecting, which is common in Japan guarantees the success of digital photo book sales that document the changing street fashions in Japan.
Dom Donaldson is a photography expert.
Find out more about creating a Digital Photo Book at http://www.cewe-photoworld.co.uk/photobook/photo-book.php