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J-rock Groupies: 200 Photographs of Unique Japanese Girls
Cosplay for J-Rock groupies. Japanese rock bands are hot! And Japan leads the world in rock band fashion. Girl fans dress up in unique and wild styles and concept clothing and display their creations, en masse, at rock concerts. Here, hot and absurd groupie fashion girls tell readers in their own words why they do it. This collection of 200 photos and interviews delves into this unique world, bringing readers the unique fashions and musical passions from the streets and live rock houses of Tokyo.
191 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 13, 2014
Technically this is a 2.5 star review.
I'm assuming that this photobook was published to cash in on the Japanese street fashion book mini-boom that occurred in the 00s. And I mean cash in, because really I don't see any evidence to suggest it was a labour of love. There are a lot of flaws.
Firstly, the premise is half-baked. It's true that there is a subset of Japanese pop/rock bands and artists that dress in a very visually distinctive way. 'Visual kei' musicians exist, and many of their fans also adopt some interesting ways of dressing. The trouble here is that the creators of the book assumed that anyone looking remotely different must then be a fan of that particular type of music. Included in this book are people who appear to be cosplaying (the ones I recognise seem to be mainly musical cosplay, which I guess kind of fits with their theme), as well as members of other visually distinctive youth subcultures which may or may not listen to that type of music; like goths, lolitas, punks etc. People who know their subject would probably know that. We're given no information about what these interestingly-dressed people actually like. If you're going to theme a photo collection, MAKE USE OF YOUR THEME. Could you not ask them what type of music they do like, if their style was influenced by anything - hell, even if they made the clothes themselves or bought them? The only 'explanation' we do get is a front and back piece purportedly from some guy in a band and a girl who likes it, though since they fit into the supposed theme of this collection so perfectly yet vaguely I wonder if they were actually written by real people not the makers of the book. It didn't add anything.
Secondly, the quality of the photos really varies. Some are quite decent, others are blurred, out of focus, grainy, have lens flare or are otherwise badly shot. Again, I would say if this was a labour of love, you'd use decent equipment or a decent photographer to make this look good. Some of the people pictured weren't even that theatrically dressed, which makes me wonder about their criteria for choosing people to photo. Did they spend a day in Harajuku and snap anyone that wasn't wearing jeans and a t-shirt, or was it more thought-out? The cover photo in particular suffers from most of the above. If you want the book to sell well, try using an attractive and arresting photo(not that the ladies in the photo aren't attractive in their own way).
Overall it's disappointing, but there are some nice photos in there and I will be keeping it for inspiration. If you're a collector of the photobooks like me you might want it to round out your collection, but if you're new to the concept or looking for something attractive to put on your coffee table, I'd suggest you go and buy one of the Fruits photobooks or Gothic and Lolita (see my fashion shelf).
I'm assuming that this photobook was published to cash in on the Japanese street fashion book mini-boom that occurred in the 00s. And I mean cash in, because really I don't see any evidence to suggest it was a labour of love. There are a lot of flaws.
Firstly, the premise is half-baked. It's true that there is a subset of Japanese pop/rock bands and artists that dress in a very visually distinctive way. 'Visual kei' musicians exist, and many of their fans also adopt some interesting ways of dressing. The trouble here is that the creators of the book assumed that anyone looking remotely different must then be a fan of that particular type of music. Included in this book are people who appear to be cosplaying (the ones I recognise seem to be mainly musical cosplay, which I guess kind of fits with their theme), as well as members of other visually distinctive youth subcultures which may or may not listen to that type of music; like goths, lolitas, punks etc. People who know their subject would probably know that. We're given no information about what these interestingly-dressed people actually like. If you're going to theme a photo collection, MAKE USE OF YOUR THEME. Could you not ask them what type of music they do like, if their style was influenced by anything - hell, even if they made the clothes themselves or bought them? The only 'explanation' we do get is a front and back piece purportedly from some guy in a band and a girl who likes it, though since they fit into the supposed theme of this collection so perfectly yet vaguely I wonder if they were actually written by real people not the makers of the book. It didn't add anything.
Secondly, the quality of the photos really varies. Some are quite decent, others are blurred, out of focus, grainy, have lens flare or are otherwise badly shot. Again, I would say if this was a labour of love, you'd use decent equipment or a decent photographer to make this look good. Some of the people pictured weren't even that theatrically dressed, which makes me wonder about their criteria for choosing people to photo. Did they spend a day in Harajuku and snap anyone that wasn't wearing jeans and a t-shirt, or was it more thought-out? The cover photo in particular suffers from most of the above. If you want the book to sell well, try using an attractive and arresting photo(not that the ladies in the photo aren't attractive in their own way).
Overall it's disappointing, but there are some nice photos in there and I will be keeping it for inspiration. If you're a collector of the photobooks like me you might want it to round out your collection, but if you're new to the concept or looking for something attractive to put on your coffee table, I'd suggest you go and buy one of the Fruits photobooks or Gothic and Lolita (see my fashion shelf).
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December 12, 2008hot
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews