Masquerade (Signed)

Tomoko Sawada
Masquerade (Signed)

Photographs: Tomoko Sawada

Publisher: Akaaka

56 pages

Year: 2006

Comments: Hardcover, 20 x 20 cm. In very good condition. Signed by Tomoko Sawada

"MASQUERADE" is a series of self-portraits in which Tomoko Sawada completely changes her makeup and hairstyle for each photograph. Still, although she becomes a different woman on every page, these self-portraits always maintain the concept of "outside and inside." All of the photographs fit a particular type: Sawada's clothes and heavy makeup, as well as the way the photographs are shot, make them look like photographs of hostesses which would be displayed outside a "kyabakura" club, most likely in one of Japan's seedier neighborhoods. While a "kyabakura" club is not a brothel, it's a place where men pay money to talk to and drink with women who are made up in the exact style that Sawada has chosen. She's gone as far as to completely whiten her face, which heightens the difference in hairstyle and makeup from one photo to the next. While "MASQUERADE" could be read as a comment on Japanese culture, it's also a masterfully executed performance. This book won the 2003 Ihei Kimura Photography Award, while Tomoko Sawada won the 2004 International Center of Photography Infinity Award (Young Photographer category).