Document Commuter Train / Ikko Kagari, 1982

Document Commuter Train

Ikko Kagari
Hamashobou/1982/JHapanese/298*210*10

Photographer Kagari Ikko’s photobook Document Commuter Train. Kagari Ikko, whose career details remain undisclosed precisely because he is labeled a “secret photographer.” In the early 1980s, Kagari acquired an infrared camera through a certain circumstance. This book was published as a collection of images he accumulated over the following six months. The numerous images, focusing specifically on “molestation” and “under skirts” within commuter trains, depict an unknown, dark world. Capturing the raw reality of human sexuality and desire with a cold, clinical eye, these images—marked by exceptional chiaroscuro and unique compositions—go beyond mere eroticism. They evoke the work of photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki, who used the same infrared strobe to capture nighttime park scenes, and are recognized internationally as a truly unique body of photographic work. Kagari went on to work as a scoop photographer for over 20 years thereafter, earning such high regard from magazines that their print runs reportedly fluctuated based on whether his photographs were included. (Featured in Parr & Badger Vol. III)