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Fruits
The
portraits gathered in photographer Shoichi Aoki's book Fruits
point the way to an extraordinarily colorful array of youthful self-expression
in a country typically not known for that — Japan.
There
is energy and creativity in the teenagers who wear a mixture of
high fashion and homemade ensembles. On the streets of Harajuku
in Tokyo, they create a novel and intriguing record of life.
While
the eye is drawn to the colorful and fascinating street fashion,
the backgrounds — vending machines and ever-present Gap stores
— are constant reminders of the global mass market.
Mr.
Aoki's extensive collection of cult images represents a unique documentation
of the explosion and changing face of street fashion throughout
the last decade.
The
streets and suburbs of Tokyo are captured in an innovative light
— in celebration of the diversity of Mr. Aoki's sharply depicted
youth.
At
the same time, the youth depicted by Mr. Aoki leaves the observer
wondering what the over-the-top character of the images indicates
about the state of present-day Japan.
It
is a country with a lot of potential and beauty on the one hand.
But, on the other hand, it is also a country with a shaky economy
and very stifling routines.
The
latter in particular is highly frustrating to the country's youth.
Mr Aoki's images may be understood as live-wire testimony to that
split reality.
About
Shoichi Aoki
Photographer
Shoichi Aoki's interest in street fashion was sparked in the mid-1990s
— when he noticed a marked change in the way young people were
dressing in Tokyo's fashionable Harajuku area.
Rather
than mimicking European and American trends, his country's youth
were personalizing elements of traditional Japanese dress —
kimono, obi sashes and geta sandals — and blending them with
home-made, secondhand and alternative designer fashion. Inspired
by this new fashion, the photographer established a monthly magazine
called Fruits.
Since
it began circulating in 1997, Shoichi Aoki's magazine has attracted
an international cult following for its celebration of the freshness
of fashion in Harajuku.
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