The Yakuza Project ~ by Photographer Anton Kusters

Anton Kusters spent two years with the Japanese mafia. This was his very first project.

The Belgium photographer spent several months embedded in the Japanese underworld, taking photos of Yakuza as they went about their business. The outstanding images are featured in his outstanding debut book – Odo Yakuza Tokyo.

So how exactly did a Belgium photographer get to meet Tokyo’s boss of bosses, take photos in the back street brothels, and follow around a bunch of criminals doing a bunch of criminal Shit?  The short answer is Taka-san – the proprietor of a hole-in-the-wall bar in Golden Gai. The paired struck up a friendship, Taka-san knew some people, they knew some people, and before long Kusters was getting invited into a world few outsiders have ever witnessed, let alone photographed.

As he explains, “[The people I photographed] want to have a kind of a chronicle of their family, a chronicle of what they are about, [that’s why I was allowed in] … I do not want to be a judge in my photography. I want to be a witness in my photography.”

“The Yakuza project actually quickly turned into something different than I expected, I started to feel that [the Yakuza] is a way of life more than anything else… that the Yakuza is many shades of grey, and not simple black vs white. The subtle shades are the key.”

Odo Yakuza Tokyo is available to purchase online. You can see more images and purchase the book via antonkusters.com. [via lifelounge.com]

"Through 10 months of negotiations with the Shinseikai, my brother Malik and I became one of the only westerners ever to be granted this kind of access to the closed world of Japanese organized crime.

With a mix of photography, film, writing and graphic design, I try to share not only their complex relationship to Japanese society, but also to show the personal struggle of being forced to live in two different worlds at the same time; worlds that often have conflicting morals and values. It turns out not to be a simple ‘black’ versus ‘white’ relationship, but most definitely one with many, many, many shades of grey." ~ Anton Kusters

*click on images for a larger view*

Anton's speaks about his outstanding Yakuza Project

Centuries ago in the days of the Shogun, Japan's authorities would mark criminals with tattoos to distinguish them from the rest of the population.

 These highly visible tattoos usually took the form of a black ring around the arm; with rings added as convictions increased.

These marked men were usually discriminated against so they tended to stick together, eventually forming the organized, mafia-style gangs now known as"Yakuza". They are worn proudly as symbols of status and dedication.

The major yakuza syndicates have at least 80,000 official members, making them one of the world’s largest criminal organizations.

Although exact figures are unknown, the yakuza are estimated to earn billions of dollars each year from their illicit activities.

The commercial sex industry in Japan is so successful that the United States Department of State has designated it “one of the world’s top designations for sex trafficking of foreign women.”

Yubitsume, or the cutting of one's finger, is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offence, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left little finger and hand the severed portion to his boss. Sometimes an underboss may do this in penance to the oyabun if he wants to spare a member of his own gang from further retaliation.

Its origin stems from the traditional way of holding a Japanese sword. The bottom three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword tightly, with the thumb and index fingers slightly loose. The removal of digits starting with the little finger moving up the hand to the index finger progressively weakens a person's sword grip.

The idea is that a person with a weak sword grip then has to rely more on the group for protection—reducing individual action. In recent years, prosthetic fingertips have been developed to disguise this distinctive appearance.

In the mood for some more Japanese gangsters? Check out two of my favourite Yakuza flicks

Anton's camera bag and the gear he brought with him to Japan:


• pack of paper hankerchiefs, a lens cloth
• any random palstic bag
• woolen cap, a super lightweight raincoat
• “pocket communicator”: crucial for situations when you don’t speak the local language and need help
• passport and credit card and other necessary travel/ID docs
• extra batteries
• flash (**with a band-aide affixed to it to reduce flash intensity and warm up flash colour)
• secondary camera (set up as rangefinder)
• main camera (Leica M9) with just one lens (35mm f1.4)
• pens & pencils, markers, little notebook
• memory cards
• audio recorder
• super dooper business cards with images of his work (extremely important in Japan)
• mini tripod
• Crumpler The Hoax bag with insert added

On Location with Portrait Photographer Markus Tedeskino Shooting with a Leica S2

On location at the beach in St. Peter Ording, Germany, Portrait Photographer Markus Tedeskino and his team use the Leica S2 with central shutter lenses to capture a ballet dancer in mid-jump.

**double click on video for full screen mode**

The Making of the $50,000 Leica M9-P Edition Hermès

Hermès, the Parisian fashion giant best known for its prohibitively expensive wearable accessories, has teamed up with Leica for some creative marketing. Two special M9-P editions will be available -- a total of 300 Edition Hermès digital rangefinders will ship beginning in June for $25,000, while 100 "very special" (even more exclusive) Edition Hermès - Série Limitée Jean-Louis Dumas models will be available in July for, ahem, $50,000[via endgadget]

Pedro Ferreira on the New $8,700 Leica Apo-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH.

Fashion photographer Pedro Ferreira uses his Leica M9 and the new Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. lens to capture images. Pedro explains why the M-System is his camera of choice and how the Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. lens performs with the strong backlight in the studio.

This lens is a new milestone in the history of optical design that achieves previously unattainable values in all technical performance characteristics. For instance, there is practically no fall-off at the edges - even at full aperture - in the MTF curves for image sharpness. Even the finest details are rendered with more than 50% contrast - a previously unheard of value that confirms the exceptional properties of this lens.
This enormous contrast enables extremely sharp images with superb corner-to-corner detail rendition in all photographic situations. At the same time, the apochromatic correction of the lens minimises chromatic aberration on sharp edges to ensure natural rendition of every detail. This results in outstanding pictures - even in large-format prints. The Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. provides discerning photographers with a new high-performance lens in the portfolio of standard focal lengths.[via Leica]

Super Rare $37K White Leica M9-P ~ "The Unicorn"

The white Leica M9-P (with a silver 50mm f/0.95 noctilux lens) is a very limited edition of the digital rangefinder.

Only 50 will be sold, each at $37K only in Japan. It’s so rare, some are calling it the Unicorn.

Info on the Leica 50mm f 0.95 Noctilux:

According to Stefan Daniel, Leica’s director for product management, “The Noctilux 0.95/50 is one of the most demanding lenses currently in production, and we can only assign production and assembly to the most experienced and skilled people in the whole company”. It is also the most expensive lens in the M and S ranges ($11,000 USD).  It may therefore come as a bit of a surprise to learn that it’s also one of the most in-demand lenses, with a waiting list of up to a year. Although the lens itself takes 16 hours to assemble by hand, it’s the raw materials and optics, some of which have a rumoured 12-month period to cool from being cast, which add to the length of time required. There is some very exotic glass used in this lens.

 [via British Journal of Photography]


• World's Fastest-Aperture Lens @ f/0.95
• State-of-the-Art Optics and Mechanics
• Amazing Quality Throughout Focal Range
• 2 Aspherical / Rear Floating Elements

Here's the all white Leica M8

*click on image to bigify*

Photographer Profile ~ Mark Murrmann

Mark Murrmann specializes in documentary-style photography for editorial and commercial clients. He was named one of Lürzer Archives' 200 Best Advertising photographers of 2010/11 and had a portrait of Dead Weather chosen for American Photography 27.

Mark's photos have appeared on dozens of record covers and in publications around the world. He has done commercial work for Jim Beam, Levi's, Nike, and Samsung. He is a regular contributor to Hamburger Eyes and curated the Maximum Rocknroll photo issue (and accompanying exhibit) in 2010.

When not taking pictures, he works on the other side of the desk as Photo Editor at Mother Jones magazine.

"I kind of stumbled on street photography when I was living in Washington, D.C. in the mid-90s. I carried my camera everywhere and snapped some photos while walking to work. It just never occurred to me to do that. And then, looking at the negatives, it of course all made sense. I vaguely knew of photographers like Cartier-Bresson and Brassai."
~ Murrmann ( I'm sure he knows better now!)

Dead Weather:  Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount), Jack White (of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes) Great band btw!

"Part of what I love as much as the analog process is just shooting with the M6 (or M4-P), the Leica. All the hokey, borderline-religious fanaticism crap some people spout has a bit of truth to it. When I grab my M6, it’s like an extension of my hand. I don’t have to think about using it, at all. I don’t like shooting street stuff nearly as much with my other cameras, whether they’re film or digital. Other situations, like shooting bands in tricky lighting situations, make shooting with faster cameras more optimal, but in general if I can only bring one camera, it’s my M6."~ Mark Murrmann