I love art that makes me think. I love art that is honest and full of passion. I love art that makes me feel uncomfortable. I love the photography of Momo Okabe because it sheds light on the outsider Trans community in Japan. Both of her books, Dildo and Bible, are very personal journeys of love. Only 55 handmade copies of Dildo were made, and they are extremely hard to come by. This book looks at Okabe’s relationship with Kaori and Yoko, her boyfriends, both of whom were going through gender indenity disorders while the photographs were being taken.
Bible was published by Session Press, and is about Okabe’s daily life in Tokyo, Miyagi and India; it addresses “the alienation of the transgender community” in Japan, plus her relationship with a total nut job.
Check out what she has to say about her book Bible, taken from her interview with Dazed.
Bible compiles all my recent works, including many unpublished photographs taken in Tokyo, Miyagi and India between 2010 and 2013. I took photos in that period without any real reason for doing so. However, last summer I met a new man and things changed dramatically. He used to go crazy and commit crimes, but I didn’t think he was evil or bad inside. Whenever I was with him, I felt tremendously sad but I could take a lot of beautiful photos. I felt that I could finally become free from my history. Bible is not a record of memories but a mental landscape that people can attain only after a long dark struggle in their past. It is an elegy for people who have experienced pain. When I finished compiling the work, I felt like I had been reborn. I felt I could finally become myself to the world appearing in front of me.
Also check out her very moving photos below…
It takes so much courage to be different, especially in a country like Japan, where it’s important for people to fit in! KILL THE JUDGEMENT – LET PEOPLE BE WHO THEY WANT TO BE!
DILDO
BIBLE
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