Calligraphy for the YAKUZA book
This is Taka-san in the mirror creating calligraphy for the ODO YAKUZA TOKYO book (more info on the book soon). He is our fixer for the entire Yakuza project, and over the years has become a dear friend. His work will be featured as chapter pages in the book. There will be 12 works in total. He’s not a professional artist, but his calligraphy has a very strong personality speaking through it. It’s a very emotional and exhausting process for him to put his sentiments about the Yakuza story into the characters he draws.
I think it’s a really cool collaboration, and it adds an extra layer of authenticity to the book, especially as he has been deeply involved since the very beginning. Without him, we would have never made contact with the Yakuza in the first place. At his own personal risk, he always makes sure my brother Malik and I are safe at all times, and continuously advises us on the ever so important dos and don’ts when dealing with them. A bar owner and professional musician, he himself is not a member of any family.
a
Angelo
April 18, 2011 at 08:39 //
GRANDE ANTON! bellissimo lavoro, complimenti!
Un caro abbraccio,
Angelo
anton
April 18, 2011 at 17:42 //
Angelo! long time no see my friend… come stai?
we should meet again!
un abbraccio grande…
a
Jean-Pierre
April 18, 2011 at 15:07 //
Impressing my friend….
JP
Charles Peterson
April 18, 2011 at 15:44 //
Love it!
Mike R
April 18, 2011 at 18:59 //
Updates coming thick and fast Anton!
Great photograph- and I love the “look” that you have with this photograph and with the entire project. It’s hard to use colour over an extended period and still maintain a consistent colour palette; but you have it here. Your writing shows a genuine emotional bond with your friend Taka-san that does you credit.
Mike.
eva
April 18, 2011 at 19:36 //
I copy and paste Mike R!!
(Mom’s got me a copy of Geo Epoche.. picking it up in a couple weeks..)
Carlo
April 19, 2011 at 02:27 //
Echoing Mike R’s words….great to read more updates!
I like the intensity of the shot. It drew me right in. Makes me wonder if all of this took him hours or minutes to draw.
anton
April 19, 2011 at 07:05 //
Jean-Pierre, Charles, Mike, Eva, Carlo….
Thanks for the kind words! Yes the look is specific to this project, and I am glad to be able to be consistent enough over the 2 years that I’ve been photographing. Of course, the longer it takes, the more “artistic sidesteps” I’m taking (behind the scenes), and a few of them prove to be interesting enough to pursue… and hopefully allow me to grow as a photographer
Taka-san is finishing up today or tomorrow with the calligraphy… That will mean he will have taken about a week to create the characters. Drawing the character by itself only takes a few seconds, but it is crucial to be in the right state of mind, something which is much more time consuming. Much more than in roman (western) alphabets, you can see a lot of the person’s character in the work – even if you can’t actually read it.
cheers,
a
Neil
April 24, 2011 at 11:46 //
Really looking forward to your book. I enjoyed the magazine both the photography and the layout but it looks like you are bringing the “big guns” for it.
Props for introducing us to some nuances we wouldn’t see otherwise.
When you say “his sentiments about the Yakuza story” has Taka-san seen a layout or a provisional copy or is he working from his experiences during working with you?
(by the way my website http://www.iseepeople.co.uk isn’t accepted as a valid URL by your site.. its real.. honest!)
anton
April 25, 2011 at 19:06 //
Hey Neil,
Thanks for stopping by…. Yes Taka-san, as a fixer, has been involved all along, he’s seen images and test book layouts and print models and what not, and has also given extremely valuable advice about certain images, voicing details and sentiments that I otherwise never would’ve noticed.
You’ve seen it well, him being so closely involved was the only way he could do the calligraphy in the first place… I’ll post a sample image soon
cheers, a
Imants
May 3, 2011 at 11:53 //
Aahmmmmnnn this is a great touch to your book
……. “artistic sidesteps”……… a dangerous world indeed for any photographer
anton
May 10, 2011 at 07:55 //
hey IMANTS
good to see you here again…. “danger” is my middle name… or maybe I am just a wimp…. but i sure hope i’m not
hugs a
Tyr
September 7, 2011 at 14:48 //
Grande trabalho Aston.
bitch
December 14, 2011 at 11:53 //
awesomes pics man ….have a Japanese wife and a Dutch ex , love both cultures, but Artistically
this boy nails it well .. cheers bro