Izima Kaoru
This group of four large format photographs, entitled Tanja de Jager (2003), is part of the series of Landscapes with a corpse, with which the Japanese fashion photographer Izima Kaoru (1954) breaks with the conventions of fashion photography. To create this scene, he invited models, actresses or, as here, female television presenters, to imagine the moment of their death and to dress for the occasion in their favorite haute couture clothes. Kaoru then worked with the protagonists on the production of the fatal moment.
The results of these collaborations resemble set photographs, perfect in their sense of detail, their choice of colors, the lights and centering, creating real crime stories. At the same time, these photographs make death aesthetically pleasing, take away the terror, and focus on existential as well as aesthetic questions. Through the multiplication of details, Kaoru invites the viewer to dive into the story. He also unveils his voyeurism whilst celebrating a beauty which seems to peak in the very instant of its disappearance.