Book of the Week: A Pick by Christian Michael Filardo

Book of the Week Book of the Week: A Pick by Christian Michael Filardo Christian Michael Filardo selects Japanese Whispers by Zaza Bertrand as Book of the Week.

Japanese Whispers. By Zaza Bertrand.  Art Paper Editions, 2016.

Christian Michael Filardo picks Japanese Whispers by Zaza Bertrand from Art Paper Editions as Book of the Week.

"You can take an elevator to the next floor and enter a room where your lover for the night awaits your arrival. Perhaps they’re naked. There is a phone but whom do you really want to talk to? What are you really hoping to get out of this experience?

In Zaza Bertrand’s new monograph Japanese Whispers we examine the fleeting moments of time that occur within Japanese love hotels. We notice the décor, the pretzeled bodies, the feeling of security. One thing I find particularly fascinating about this title is the sense of normality that Bertrand brings into focus in an otherwise culturally obscure place. I’m drawn to the mundane light fixtures; standard curtains, imitation stone, and patterned sofas that Bertrand finds her subjects interacting with. To me, this photographic energy implies something about the individuals who grace Bertrand’s images with their likeness. These people want to feel normal; they want to exercise their passion, desire, and instinct.

Nothing about Japanese Whispers feels “hardcore”, we aren’t in some sex dungeon, and nothing feels hyper-kinky. Rather it’s soft and intimate, it feels like love, even if they are paying and it’s only for a little while. This one is really subtle, quiet, and at times silent but in its silence, we find what Bertrand is really getting at. With Japanese Whispers we have a graceful examination of a sensitive culture from a welcomed outsider."—Christian Michael Filardo

Purchase Book

Japanese Whispers. By Zaza Bertrand.  Art Paper Editions, 2016.

Japanese Whispers. By Zaza Bertrand.  Art Paper Editions, 2016.

Christian Michael Filardo is a photographer and composer living and working in Santa Fe, NM. Filardo has worked for VICE Magazine, Believer Magazine, the Phoenix New Times, and is the shipping manager at photo-eye Bookstore. He is a recent recipient of an honorarium in new music from Oberlin College’s Modern Music Guild. Filardo’s first book, Say My Last Name Softly, a collaboration with Marie Claire Bryant, was released in April 2016 on Holy Page Records.


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