Rathole Gallery, Aoyama
Canon Kiss X5
Two high school girls attend the Araki reception last night- they told me that they are planning to major in photography in college and were on a photo gallery walk that day checking out exhibitions and just happened to randomly come to Rathole while Araki was there. I suggested they ask to take his picture, as I didn’t think he’d refuse.
Note on the camera- the Canon Kiss is called the “Rebel” in the west- but in Japan it has always predominantly been marketed to young women (with the tag line “my first kiss” as seen in this ad from 1996) and new parents (seen here, with a punchline at the end with the father saying “mama is good at kisses”). Compare those commercials with this American one from 1991 with a narrator growling “what is the image of a rebel?” with a sweat-soaked and phenomenally mulleted Andre Agassi. (you’re gonna want to click on that. Trust me.) Speaking of commercials, certainly with a name like “Kiss” Canon didn’t waste the opportunity for a tie-in with a certain glam metal band.
You can watch a bunch more vintage Canon commercials on youtube here. There’s a few you probably couldn’t air today in 2015…