So we made it. A tremendous collaborative effort led by super talented Diego Orlando, we created, printed and published our second book over at BURN Magazine, and we named it “BURN.02″. Almost two hundred pages of pure blood, sweat, tears & pride… with much original and commissioned work, never seen elsewhere. I’m tremendously proud of the stunning work in there, and the fact that David Alan Harvey was able to pull it off yet again. And again, also this book is literally flying out the door… We printed a limited... Read the Rest →
Recently, the incredibly friendly and professional people at GEO Epoche magazine in Germany contacted me to supply images for their new issue about the history of organized crime throughout the world. Specifically, they wanted to use my images to complement their 18 page chapter about the history of the Yakuza in Japan from 1945 to 2010… of course I gladly obliged. This special issue #48 hits the stands today April 13, 2011. The editors at GEO Epoche are an absolute joy to work with. Super professional, an incredible eye to... Read the Rest →
In Tokyo now photographing cherry blossoms… For some reason, the past 3 years, somehow, in my ever infinite wisdom, I’ve always managed to miss this huge event. But not this year. This is going to be the closing image of what I think is the first major step in the Yakuza project: the photo book “ODO YAKUZA TOKYO”. Why cherry blossoms? Well, that’s another one of the many enigmas surrounding the Yakuza: “ODO” or 桜道, is literally translated as “the way of the cherry blossom”, and is the credo of... Read the Rest →
I thought this was worth a mention: for an interview about my 893-Yakuza project, which will appear in the forthcoming January issue of Fotografie, a Dutch photography magazine, The Editor-in-Chief Diana Bokje (@dianabokje) does something special… not only does she print an interview which captures our various conversations very well, but she also reproduces 5 complete spreads directly out of 893 Magazine Issue#1, including original layout and texts. Simply amazing that someone not only recognizes but also acts upon the the link between images, layout, typography and writing in the... Read the Rest →
Members of other families arriving at the funeral of Miyamoto-san (one of the family bosses) to pay their respects. Miyamoto-san died in february 2010, as a result of a stroke.
So we made it. A tremendous collaborative effort between David Alan Harvey, Diego Orlando, Anna-Maria Barry-Jester, all the photographers featured, and yours truly. We created, printed and published our first book over at BURN Magazine, and we named our baby “BURN.01″. Three hundred pages of pure blood, sweat, tears & pride… I’m tremendously proud of the stunning work by all the photographers in there, and the fact that we were able to pull it off. The book is literally flying out the door… We printed a first edition of a... Read the Rest →
This is Soichiro driving me through the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo, in his third generation 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R. It’s all white and retro as hell and yes, even though I’m not a car freak, I must admit it’s very cool. I like retro. Click on the image to see a short video of me trying to capture the moment. I never even knew he bought the car, and on the last night that I was there two weeks ago, while my brother and I were walking in Kabukicho debriefing... Read the Rest →
David Alan Harvey and I started Burn Magazine in December 2008, just before Christmas. We both committed to BURN in NYC in December 2008 (after a large gathering of great friends & fellows where the BURN idea actually crystallized – read this), shook hands, and simply went for it. I know we launched on an impossible moment right before or after Christmas – I can’t remember which day exactly – but right now, either one of those days sounds like impeccably bad timing from our part :-) And throughout the... Read the Rest →
