KINBAKU PHOTOGRAPHY – Seiu Ito

Published by Atelier Third – 2023 – Japan
16 x 22 cm – 128 pages in colour – hardcover

A glimpse into the aesthetics explored by Seiu Ito, a rare torture painter who was active from the Meiji to Showa eras.
This photobook coveted by fans, containing a number of vivid yet beautiful torture photos that appear to have been related to Seiu Ito!

= Valuable materials owned by Abnormal Museum! =

Seiu commissioned a photographer to take pictures and published torture photos that seemed to be connected to the world of his own paintings.

You can certainly get a glimpse of the aesthetics of Seiu.

Seiu sometimes explained the purpose of photography using the word “research”.

He must have been constantly curious to see how his limbs would writhe and how her expression would suddenly change due to the torture.

At times, her black hair is imbued with a mysterious spirit, and the way she throws back her frightening features is reminiscent of the chilling images of women in the spirit world, which were Seisu’s specialty in ghost paintings.

* Seiu Ito… Born in 1891, died in 1960. He uses his skillful technique to draw realistic torture pictures, and as a master of these paintings he has many fans, and has written masterpieces such as “Seme no Hanashi.” On the other hand, he not only left behind many masterpieces of ghost paintings, but also loved Edo’s street customs and wrote books about Edo customs.

* Abnormal Museum… Located in Iidabashi, Tokyo, Japan’s only library specializing in SM and fetishism (membership only). Collects and preserves valuable materials.