"Igawa Haruka wears Dolce Gabbana", 2003

"Koike Eiko wears Gianni Versace“, 2004

"Natsuki Mari wears Luisa Beccaria", 2003

"Tomosaka Rie wears Mio Mio", 2003

"UA wears Toga", 2003

Born in Kyoto in 1954, fashion photographer Kaoru Izima is also the founder and editor-in-chief of former fashion magazine "Zyappu" (the Japanese pronunciation of derogatory term "Jap"). Zyappu was the first and only magazine in Japan to feature all its text in western characters instead of the traditional kanjis, and also where he initiated is series 'Landscapes with a Corpse". He invites Japanese (and sometime European) actresses, singers and models to imagine and stage their own fantasied perfect death, while - let's stay practical - choosing which designer clothes they would like to wear. The "beauty of death" is so much romanced and deeply ingrained in Japanese culture that this seems done without any irony or conscious sense of morbidity - or at least, not in a shocking, socially unacceptable way. In Japan he's just fashion; in the West he's probably perceived as a rebellious artist using luxury brands to make metaphysical statements about death and consumerism...

Still, it's the film-like quality of the images that really appeal to me. Each scene usually alternates multiple viewpoints - long shots with the body seen from afar on a road, a bridge, or an empty street, and close-ups from different angles reminiscent of forensic photos. The lack of obvious elements about what happened keeps making me look closer in search for hidden clues.

Via Japan-Photo.