Having been a hostess for some time in the neighborhoods of Shinjuku and Ginza, Chloé Jafé met the head of a Tokyo Yakuza group who allowed her to photograph their daily life. She decided to follow the women of the organization. As spouses, daughters, or mistresses, they play an important role, hence the name of the series Inochi azukemasu – 命 預 け ま す, which means “the gift of one’s life.” Incorporating the spontaneity of travel journals, her black and white photographs sometimes show intimate moments between Yakuza couples, sometimes meetings of clan leaders. Chloé Jafé gives a dominant place to the gestures and the often tattooed bodies whose motives she sometimes keeps beyond the camera. Enhanced with lively colors of gouache which, in a sense, translate the latent violence of the group and reenforce the graphic contrast of shadow and light, these photographs evoke with great symbolism the weight of ritual and traditions.
Bourse du talent 2017
December 15, 2017 through March 4, 2018
Bibliothèque François Mitterrand
Quai François Mauriac
75706 Paris
France
