Book Review: The Park
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
By Federica Belli.
Taboos. They tend to be fascinating on their own. The mere awareness of discussing something we have always been told to erase from our thoughts makes us giggle. Couples having sex in the park in the middle of Tokyo? Taboo. Becoming part of the voyeurs’ community in order to study and photograph them? That is probably not something you would proudly discuss with your aunt while sipping rosé either. Still, Kohei Yoshikuri approaches the theme in such an unexpectedly sincere way that it somehow becomes acceptable.
His book, The Park, is pretty much everything you would not want your family to see. Nonetheless, these photographs carry such an irresistible sense of awe and innocent curiosity that you won’t be able to stop thinking about them, wondering how you never came across the earlier.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
There is a certain gentleness in the way Kohei approaches the theme. Almost as if the lovers became part of the scenery and the only characters in the photographs were the voyeurs. This stance gives rise to a game in which the observer somehow can’t stop flipping through the book in an obsessive search for eyes hidden in the bushes, peering from behind a tree or even in the pages of an abandoned newspaper.
The parks he captures are not the ones we all visit during the day. They are not the lawns we have picnics at. The scenery in these images reminds us of our worst nightmares and our sweetest dreams at the same time. Each lover becomes a creature we want to discover, just like it happens with our favourites movie characters. Notwithstanding the physical distance between the photographer and the couple, the interest arises as much from the sexual tension as it does from the objective documentary value of the project.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
The grainy pictures follow one another in a sequence that ends up feeling like a blend between security camera recordings and the documentation of war. Nevertheless, lust and human weaknesses still emerge as the most relevant subject, clearly fascinating the photographer.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
As the book unfolds before our eyes, we unwillingly become part of the voyeurs. And in doing so, we are wonderfully seduced by human behaviours, questioning our own and finding ourselves in the picture as well, in a taboo we can’t stop thinking about.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
© Kohei Yoshiyuki. Courtesy of Radius Books.
