“You are beautiful”
Since its birth, photography has been considered to be the magical medium that captures the truth.
But everyone knows now that is only the past myth.
Historically, we have been pushing ourselves forward to realize our wish to be more beautiful, by make-up, shape-up, tattoo and
cosmetic surgery.
In this age with the advanced digital technology, it looks as though we are still devoting ourselves to pursue the ideal beauty
in the virtual image by using digital modification.
Is the truth so not worth looking at?
Are we not beautiful as we are?
A thought occurred to me to photograph a human body by high-definition digital back and enlarge the image as large as possible
without retouching.
I felt as though I was trying to find the smallest creature hiding in the vast field.
Moreover, by looking at people around me in such a point of view, they started to look so attractive, regardless of their age or
gender.
I would like to pay my respects to my models, for understanding the nature of my experiment, which seems to counteract
the trend and I would like to compliment on the
Izima Kaoru, Death Dressed in Haute Couture
'Landscapes with a Corpse' by Izima Kaoru © Hatje Cantz
Between fashion, cinema, and visual art, the project undertaken by photographer Izima Kaoru seeks to aestheticise the death of young women. The series Landscapes with a Corpse, published in its entirety in , presents photographs of immaculately-dressed models and actresses appearing in their fantasy death scene.
Born in Kyoto in , the fashion photographer began this series in He invited his models to choose the designer garments that they would like to be wearing at the moment of their death.
Death, a political subject
The photographs show the subjects in different environments, in the wilderness, lying in water, at an airport terminal, in the snow, in scenes that suggest a natural, gentle death. Other scenes seem less serene and more representative of a murder or a ceremony. The models are always elegant, surrounded by mystery, their bodies fading into the background. Regardless of whether the photographs are close-ups or not, they are never looking at the camera.
Building on the words of Edgar Allan Poe who declared that &#;the death of a beautiful woman is,
Izima Kaoru
Poetic yet disturbing, bloody yet seductive. Since the Japanese photographer Izima Kaoru has been creating scenes of sophisticated violence and enchanting horror. Landscapes with a Corpse is the title of his project. He invited actresses and models to reveal to him their fantasies about a perfect death: above all he asked them which designer clothes they would like to wear when they died. And so the photos that show the crime scene (or that of natural death) do not allude to something fatal and irreversible but a kind of elegant and highly aesthetic ceremony.
Kaoru’s images have always had a film-like structure: long shots with bodies that seem to melt into the setting alternate with others that show close-ups of the wide-open eyes of the victims. Yet there is never a real story, only clues, suspicions, allusions: the unlocking of a tale whose mystery will never be revealed. Even the glassy eyes of the models no longer look onto anything or anybody. Perhaps they symbolically look death in the face and continue to live within that explosive moment, with the absolute risk that signifies the extreme contact with ‘diversity’.
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IZIMA KAORU
Born in Kyoto in
Lives and works in Tokyo
Public exhibitions (Selection)
Angela Reynolds wears Valentino - Van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne
You are beautiful - Ai Kowada Gallery, Tokyo
Izima Kaoru - One Sun - Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY
Izima Kaoru - La Morte E La Fanciulla - Galleria d'Arte & Novecento, Reggio Emilia
One Sun - Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich
One Sun - Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne (closed, )
Izima Kaoru - New Work - Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY
Landscapes with a corpse - Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich
Izima Kaoru - FA Projects, London (closed, )
Izima Kaoru - Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY
Izima Kaoru - Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich
Hashimoto Reika wears Milk, - Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne (closed, )
Izima Kaoru - Studio La Città, Verona
Izima Kaoru - Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY
Izima Kaoru - FA Projects, London (closed, )
Izima Kaoru - Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY
Izima Kaoru
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IZIMA KAORU
Born in Kyoto in
Lives and works in Tokyo
Public exhibitions (Selection)
You are beautiful - Ai Kowada Gallery, Tokyo
Izima Kaoru - La Morte E La Fanciulla - Galleria d'Arte & Novecento, Reggio Emilia
One Sun - Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich
One Sun - Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne (closed, )
Izima Kaoru - Von Lintel Gallery, New York City, NY
Hashimoto Reika wears Milk, - Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne (closed, )
Izima Kaoru - Studio La Città, Verona
Izima Kaoru - FA Projects, London (closed, )
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Elizabeth 2nd biography At the age of just 25, Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She came to the throne after the death of her father, King George VI, in .
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