Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

Japanese born Katsu Naito has been experimenting with photography and documenting different walks of life through his lens. He revealed his first international exhibition this September in London and has been catching the attention of photographers alike, and then some.

 

The exhibition reveals those who lived and worked in the Meatpacking District of New York during the 90s, when the area was better left avoided rather than pursued as a private exploration, which is exactly what Katsu Naito did. He documented all the different walks of life that treaded the streets there but paid particular notice to the street-walkers that stalked the streets, indifferent to their backgrounds and races.

 

Whilst these images do contain controversial matter, one can't deny the fascination that this collection holds through the different themes that are presented within this exhibition. Naito's interest in street walkers was sparked by the loss of friends to Aids, which encouraged his 'admiration' of the people who put themselves at risk during this period as a means to make money. The photographs included in the exhibition also include images of the transvestites and transexual that also earned a living via this these methods and Naito comments on the people behind the worker through the images captured. 

 

These images are now beautifully put together in a book of 45 images, which is on release, and his photography can be found on display at Donlon Books. This is a must see opportunity of photography that capture a moment in the past with a air that tumbles the feelings of voyeurism, life, sadness and loneliness together. The images used for the article are of the workers that Katsu Naito got to know and understand before approaching them with his camera and I, for one, am glad that he took his time to create a relationship with the street-walkers of the Meatpacking District of this time. His photography captures the honesty and raw qualities that film was able to snap up before the digital age arrived and reveals a time that, although it is still present on our streets, is lost among the boutiques and restaurants that now pave the Meatpacking District. 

He is currently sifting through his negatives in preparation of his next exhibition of Harlem. 

For more information about the book and exhibition, click here.

For more art on Swide, click below.

 

All photographs by Katsu Naito

Written By Ben Taylor 

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