Ever wonder why they lock the park gates after dark? Photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki’s night-vision images of the raunchy goings-on at three Tokyo parks during the 1970s are thoroughly fascinating in that slightly guilty, can’t-look-away sort of sense, like glimpsing ghastly road crashes or inappropriate beachwear.
Click here to see more of Yoshiyuki's photos.
More interesting than the actual sex, which, after all, isn’t particularly revealing, is the context, the lack of inhibition, and the extraordinary audience of reckless voyeurs gathered at each scene like excited ghosts with hungry eyes.
You can almost imagine Richard Attenborough narrating the furtive mating habits of a strange, nocturnal species known as... the human. And that, perhaps, is what makes the images so compelling. The participants are assumedly normal looking, job-going, bus-catching members of society. It’s an intriguing glimpse at humanity at its most primal, and at a group of people who probably weren’t expecting a cameraman.
Photos from Yoshiyuki’s series ‘The Park’ formed part of the Yossi Milo gallery’s exhibition at the Solo Project art fair in Basel, Switzerland earlier this month. The full collection, along with the series ‘Love Hotel’, was recently republished in a new edition by Hatje Cantz.
-
Year in review: the shape of mobility to come in our list of the top 10 concept cars of 2025Concept cars remain hugely popular ways to stoke interest in innovation and future forms. Here are our ten best conceptual visions from 2025
-
These Guadalajara architects mix modernism with traditional local materials and craftGuadalajara architects Laura Barba and Luis Aurelio of Barbapiña Arquitectos design drawing on the past to imagine the future
-
Robert Therrien's largest-ever museum show in Los Angeles is enduringly appealing'This is a Story' at The Broad unites 120 of Robert Therrien's sculptures, paintings and works on paper
-
Inside the seductive and mischievous relationship between Paul Thek and Peter HujarUntil now, little has been known about the deep friendship between artist Thek and photographer Hujar, something set to change with the release of their previously unpublished letters and photographs
-
Nadia Lee Cohen distils a distant American memory into an unflinching new photo book‘Holy Ohio’ documents the British photographer and filmmaker’s personal journey as she reconnects with distant family and her earliest American memories
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe rain is falling, the nights are closing in, and it’s still a bit too early to get excited for Christmas, but this week, the Wallpaper* team brought warmth to the gloom with cosy interiors, good books, and a Hebridean dram
-
Inside Davé, Polaroids from a little-known Paris hotspot where the A-list playedChinese restaurant Davé drew in A-list celebrities for three decades. What happened behind closed doors? A new book of Polaroids looks back
-
Inside the process of creating the one-of-a-kind book edition gifted to the Booker Prize shortlisted authorsFor over 30 years each work on the Booker Prize shortlist are assigned an artisan bookbinder to produce a one-off edition for the author. We meet one of the artists behind this year’s creations
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* editors curated a diverse mix of experiences, from meeting diamond entrepreneurs and exploring perfume exhibitions to indulging in the the spectacle of a Middle Eastern Christmas
-
14 of the best new books for music buffsFrom music-making tech to NME cover stars, portable turntables and the story behind industry legends – new books about the culture and craft of recorded sound
-
Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are a love letter to Prospect ParkIn a new book, ‘Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025’, Jamel Shabazz discovers a warmer side of human nature
