Wailed

by Robin Nishio, Nicholas Brown (Foreword), Michael DeForge (Afterword)

Wailed is an intimate chronicle of a group of friends who also happen to be the vanguard of alternative comics making. In stark black and white, the lives of these young artists are illuminated. Comics are often associated with the past, but this is a document of their future. Robin Nishio was born in Toronto, Ontario where he currently lives and works. Nishio works across a wide range of mediums including illustration, photography, and film. He is a member of the Canadian director collective Common Good where he has directed a number of prominent commercials.

Genres: Photography

80 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2015

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't recall why I ordered this book. It's a book of photographs by Nishio, who is an illustrator, photographer, and film-maker, maker of commercials. I think I was initially interested maybe because I read a lot of alternative comics and this book features photographs of some of those folks, chief among them one of my faves, Michael DeForge who, after having been snapped a few times, writes the afterword.

Nishio is friends with all these folks, so this is partly a friend photo album, partly an Emerging Outsider Artist album. The photographs are not commercial-slick, not celebrity snaps of the Rich and Famous, not Warhol's Marilyn or Mapplethorpe's glossy images of people like Mick or Bianca Jagger, but grainy black and white pics, more dark than light, to give off the slight punk vibe of alt comix, maybe. Maybe closer to Mappelthrorpe's intimate portraits of Patti Smith, or Patti's own polaroids of her friends, now mostly famous.

Here's a review with some of the photographs:

http://www.comicsandcola.com/2015/08/...

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This feels like something very private that I shouldn't be looking at, but I'm grateful that I was able to.

[Robin]

A heartwarming tribute to friends and a scene.