Found this at a branch of Popular Books in Jusco one Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t resist it. Got to have it.
Japanese singer Hyde is the lead singer, principal songwriter/lyricist and guitarist for J-rock band L’arc en Ciel and the photobook, published in 2003, beautifully captured the spirit of the singer.
He was snapped in various locations and situations with some pictures look naturally unposed even though I believe a great deal of planning had been put into the concept. Maybe that’s what the photographer intended.
The only words in it are excerpts of English translated lyrics of the band’s songs which are sung in Japanese. The songs are listed at the end of the book in Japanese.
“Horizons rise here in my eyes
A sound of silence calls
But in my heart, a distant hope
Is mine forever more”
~Hyde~
I found the photographing techniques used in the book very fascinating. It’s a beautiful representation of a rock singer and his music with the use of red and orange tones throughout which seem to symbolize the vibrant and dangerous life often lived by rock stars. The use of blue tones especially on pictures where he’s away from the stage balances and clearly split the life of a rock star into two. One, the star we see onstage. Two, the man behind the music. Jekyll and Hyde, anyone?
Some pictures had been arranged in collages of Hyde on stage, backstage, dressing room where he is the star to places like market places where he is unknown.
Every time I leaf through it, I feel like I’m on a journey into his world where he expresses his thoughts in his music.
“Can you trust me when I’m mad
Have no time to set things right
Can you love me when I’m sad
I have no plan but that's alright"
~Hyde~
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