Jan 24 2009
Desperation is Not Pretty
A quick warning. This post is probably neither work safe nor kid friendly.
Sigh. I debated whether or not to show these pictures/ write about this, but in the end, I felt like something had to be said. That something is as follows: What the hell is Kago Ai thinking? A series of increasingly porny “preview” photos of her have been surfacing recently. At first, people were arguing that they are “artistic” and “trying to adopt a more mature image” which is all well and good, but the most recent photos to appear have been undeniably trashy like so…
I mean, c’mon. This could have been taken directly from some cheap porno, just add a few white streaks. Sorry if that’s in bad taste, but this whole affair is in bad taste, so I think it’s warranted.
Not to mention that she really doesn’t have the figure for grauve work like this. It’s not that she’s fat. She’s lost a lot of weight, it’s just that her proportions are wrong for it. Her waist is too short, her breasts are too small, her legs are shapeless, and her shoulders are too broad. The sad truth is that no matter how skinny she is, she will never have a nice enough figure to be able to compete with the real grauve models.
It’s worse than being porny though. These shots are just so utterly unflattering to poor Ai. The lighting is terrible and the poses are worse. She looks sickly, and possibly drugged.
It’s like her pimp just threw her against that wall for being uppity and then a car drove by and splashed her with icy gutter water.
My problems with Aibon doing this kind of work go way beyond her previous childish image. If she wants to prance around in her underware, more power to her, but could she at least try to do it with a tiny bit of class or dignity? Without looking cheap? Without making faces like this?
I feel bad for this girl. She just seems so…lost. She’s kind of like the Japanese version of Britney Spears only (thankfully) without the kids. She’s trying to make a comeback at a time where it seems like she still might be kind of emotionally unstable, and I’m afraid that she’s making choices that she will regret later.
Okay. End rant.
Sigh,
~Celestia~
Excellent post, Celestia - I especially appreciate how you ground a moral judgment on what she’s doing with a sharp-eyed aesthetic judgment on the quality of these shots. Lord knows, I have no problem with porn or eyecandy, but - as you said - these photos REEK of desperation. It’s like watching the descent of Maria Ozawa into hardcore fetish-land. A complete and total soft-off.
For the most part I agree. It’s like you can kinda see what she’s trying to do (or what they’re trying to do for her), but it just fails.
REALLY not trying to sound rude here, but just because you feel her photos are tasteless doesn’t mean she’s “lost” like Britney Spears was. She could very well be perfectly happy and confident with them and she may very well feel that way for the rest of her life.
I wish Aibon and her management would go a different route to get her in the limelight. She totally skipped the “sexy” and just went “sleaze” all the way. I hope she knows what she’s doing. She doesn’t need to do this to prove to the world she’s all grown up.
I’m a photographer who has shot cheesecake and nude photos of a number of professional models, mostly former Playboy centerfolds. The worst pictures I’ve ever taken, the ones that make me cringe and hide them away where no one will ever see them, were better than any of Kago’s new “gravure” photos. This stuff is just poorly done. The setting, the lighting, the makeup, the posing, the composition, the editing, all utter crap.
If you want to know just how bad these photos are, go to a newsstand in Japan and pick up one of the magazines where amateur photographers pick girls up on the street, take them to love hotels, and take pictures while they strip and (often) have sex with him. 90% of these pictures will be better than all of Kago’s.
I’ve been cautiously optimistic about her comeback, despite obvious signs of inexperienced, poorly-funded management. The book, the Kago-channel DVDs, the small movie and drama roles, those were good moves. I was happy to buy the book and DVDs to support that sort of comeback, but this trash? Not a chance. Not because I object to her trying for a sexy image, but because it’s so bad that there’s nothing sexy about it.
-j
there we go. An expert opinion saying that these photos are crappy. I rest my case.
Thanks!
These photos are great! I know photography too. Art is subjective. These remind of some of Jurgen Teller’s photography. The look, lighting and style is raw. Not all made-up and perfect, with a real sexuality being expressed.
I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and most would like to see the old Aibon be all cutesy and just like she used to be or maybe grown up like Ayaya, but she is her own woman and is expressing herself the way she wants to. I aplaud her for it. And the pics are hot! My opinion.
I also have to say, Celestia, I’m a HUGE fan of your blog and read it daily. (Yes I check daily! lol) It’s soooo cool you’re in the audience for that DVD! Keep up the great work.
Josh, I have a simple rule for glamour photography: the subject is more important than the photographer. If you’re looking at a picture of a pretty girl and you say, “look at the raw, edgy style”, the photographer has FAILED. He has made pictures that are more about him than about her. Contrast with the pictures from Aya’s new album, which have a very strong style, but which make you say, “wow, she looks fantastic”.
I disagree emphatically about those pictures expressing “real sexuality”. They’re every bit as phony and contrived as an H!P publicity shoot, they’re just creating a different character. Wear this, stand here, make a face, turn a little, stick out your tongue, rub your thigh, roll over, fetch, good girl. Now do it again in this outfit.
This sort of photo shoot is an improv acting job. Somebody picked a location, wardrobe, and image, and told her to play a role. And while she has years of experience playing “cute little Aibon”, this was her first time playing “sex kitten Kago”, and it shows.
-j
Those pictures are tasteless, I don’t really like them all that much, but this is what Aibon thinks she needs in order to kill her former idol image.
I also think that she doesn’t have the body for this, and she doesn’t need to do it anyway. I mean… A PB with bikini shots in a beach or whatever would’ve been much better…