shashasha

Photographing the party-goers of Tokyo's infamous club Tokyo Decadence since 2007, Yoichi Nagata's Star of the Stars collects a selcetion of 64 images out of the 600 portraits taken within the series. Struck by the bold array of individuals who frequent the club, Nagata's portraitures capture more than just an underground subculture more commonly associated and labelled with cosplay and costume dress. The resulting images portray varying individuals dressed in styles of clothes ranging from goth, fetish, bondage, corsets and cyber wear, all embodying and exploring the very performative nature of clothes and its self-defining aspects. Included within are texts (available in both Japanese and English) by Kai Iruma, Yoichi Nagata and statements from a variety of the party-goers themselves, revealing a wealth of unique individuals who stand separate from the mundane rationalities of life within contemporary Japanese society.