Watermark Fine Art Photographs & Books (CLOSED) (Alan Griffiths, 7 November 2025) Chikako Suga, Matsuo Kabuki captures a moment of transformation that lies at the core of traditional Japanese performance. The photograph reveals the actor in partial costume and makeup, poised between the everyday and the theatrical. The stripped-back headband and the ghostly white face evoke the centuries-old discipline of the Kabuki performer, whose identity dissolves beneath layers of makeup and stylization. Yet in this quiet, frontal portrait, the mask of tradition becomes deeply human—introspective, vulnerable, and suspended between genders and roles. The tonal delicacy and controlled lighting emphasize the calm precision of the sitter’s presence, aligning the portrait with the aesthetics of Noh and Bunraku as much as with modern photographic portraiture. This image, simultaneously documentary and meditative, speaks to the enduring power of Kabuki to reimagine identity through artifice and ritual.
