ZOO YORK Cage without bars

Y. Nagasaki
ZOO YORK Cage without bars
Photographs: Y. Nagasaki
Text: Yoshi Higa
Publisher: Tsunetomo
122 pages
Year: 1993
Comments: Soft cover under dust jacket, b&w photographs. 25,7 X 21 cm, In very good condition.
“Zoo York” reflects New York’s extravagance of the 1980s, when individual freedoms, sexual in particular, became relatively unrestricted and openly expressed in the streets of NY. Nagasaki’s title for this photobook could sound critical of NY’s flamboyant lifestyle, but in fact, as he explains in the introduction, “New York is a zoo, not because the people here are animals, but because, as in any zoo, they are interesting and worth examining. We do not visit a zoo with a sense of judgement or superiority. We go for a better understanding of a different way of life…Here people have freedom to choose their own lifestyles: how they want to live.”
Despite the fact that people did not need to conform and seemed to be accepted for what they were, Nagasaki remained skeptical about real personal freedom. “No matter how we look at it – life is a cage from which one cannot escape.” Having in mind this contradiction, Nagasaki explores throughout his photos, this dual perspective: some photos show explicit sexual scenes in the streets and private clubs, while others focus on the less fortunate, homeless and drug addicts. Towards the end of the book, there is a photo of an interracial couple – Ruiko Yoshida (autor of Harlem Black Angels) with her husband (and their sun).
This photobook registered a fascinating period of NYC, which is now viewed as the pre-Giuliani era, and allow us to understand why many remained nostalgic of that time. Although the streets became safer, prostitution and explicit pornography less visible, NYC progressively became dominated by a more conformist lifestyle, losing its pulse and excitement.


















more books tagged »japanese« | >> see all
-
Shafts
by Noriaki Yokosuka
sold -
A Port Town Elegy (Signed)
by Mao Ishikawa
sold -
Tabisuru shima
by Tatsuhiko Kanou
sold -
Joji (Love Affair)
by Nobuyoshi Araki
Euro 90 -
60's 2 (Signed)
by Hajime Sawatari
sold -
Poème et Photo
by Collective
Euro 60
more books tagged »underground« | >> see all
-
Existence
by Tamiko Nishimura
sold -
THE WESTERN FRONT
by Stanley Greene
sold -
Kéntauros
by Bishin Jūmonji
sold -
Tsugi no yoru e / On to the next night (Signed)
by Yusuke Yamatani
sold -
WHEN MIDNIGHT COMES AROUND
by Gary Green
sold -
New York Sex - 1979 - 1985 -
by Gary Lee Boas
sold
more books tagged »night« | >> see all
-
NIGHTCLUB (EDT OF 30 WITH A PRINT)
by Pol Groene
sold -
Notte (Association copy)
by Olivo Barbieri
Euro 75 -
Nocturne
by Fabien Dubois
sold -
Paris de Nuit. 60 Photos inédites de Brassaï
by Brassaï
sold -
Rojyo no Kouun (SIGNED)
by Toshio Sakai
Euro 90 -
The Ball
by Ingvar Kenne
sold
more books tagged »new york« | >> see all
-
New York (Signed)
by Daisuke Yokota
sold -
Walking the High Line
by Joel Sternfeld
Euro 90 -
New York
by Keizo Kitajima
sold -
Dans New York
by André Kertész
sold -
In New York (SET OF 3 VOLUMES)
by Masao Gozu
sold -
Subway (First edition, Signed)
by Bruce Davidson
sold
more books tagged »eighties« | >> see all
-
Beyond Caring (Signed)
by Paul Graham
sold -
New York Reports
by Ryoji Akiyama
sold -
Invisible City (signed)
by Ken Schles
sold -
Shashin Tokkyubin Tokyo / Photo-mail Tokyo
by Keizo Kitajima
sold -
Célébration des putains
by Leon Herschtritt
sold -
24) TV Junkie' 83 : Memorial 031
by Mutsuko Yoshida
sold
Books from the Virtual Bookshelf josefchladek.com