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The Mainichi Daily News reports that:

Photojournalist Hideaki Takamatsu has published a photo book of homeless people in Japan, in hopes of breaking down stereotypes and prejudices.

Titled “Street People” and released by Taro Jiro Co., the photo collection portrays the homeless just as they are — in their regular outfits and settlements. Readers of the volume will not see the homeless as pathetic, but as rather fashionable.

I don’t know what the homeless are like in Japan – clearly for some reason its quite a different situation for them over there than for the homeless in New York City for instance.  “Rather fashionable?” That’s like “sorry you lost your home, but at least you still have all those clothes sitting around in the box you live in.” … “Oh, and when I come to shoot photos of you, could you make sure to take your time getting ready and making yourself fashionable and such – I mean, you don’t have a job to go to, so lots of free time!”  The whole premise stinks like a hypocritical joke of a photo book, but I’m not homeless, so what do I know.

Among the 85 subjects pictured in the photo collection are street people who pose like models, with a hand on one hip or casting a sidelong glance. “I tried to get the most out of each person’s appeal,” he says.

Wonderful, I guess making light of the situation and making the homeless pose like models is sure to meet his end goal, and I kid you not, this is an actual quote out of the article which I take to mean this photographer actually said it:

“I wanted to make a photo book that can attract young women,” says Takamatsu.

Ok, I get it now.. this guy just wanted to get some play, so he took pictures of homeless people for 15 years and published a book with 85 selected photos of them.  He says he considers the homeless his good friends now.

I certainly hope he’ll give copies of this coffee table photo book to his homeless friends.  So they can put it on their imaginary coffee tables and look at it while reminiscing about the nice photographer that came and asked them permission to take their pictures.  Heck, maybe one of them is a young woman who’ll be attracted by the book so this photo dude can get laid.

Bizzare, that’s all I can say.

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