Watermark Fine Art Photographs & Books (CLOSED) (Alan Griffiths, 7 November 2025) This photograph of Tetsugatake, Ena Bunraku captures one of the expressive puppet characters from Japan’s traditional Bunraku theatre, a form of performance that combines narrative chanting, shamisen music, and exquisitely carved wooden puppets manipulated by skilled puppeteers. Originating in the Edo period, Bunraku dramatizes epic tales of loyalty, vengeance, and tragic love through the heightened gestures and masks of its characters. The figure of Tetsugatake, shown here with exaggerated facial lines, fierce expression, and intricate kimono, embodies the stylized masculinity and moral conflict central to Bunraku storytelling. In this modern photographic interpretation, the shallow depth of field and soft monochrome tonality isolate the puppet from its theatrical context, transforming it into a portrait that oscillates between sculpture and performance—a meditation on the persistence of Japan’s traditional arts in contemporary visual culture.
