![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Furisode San (Apprentice Geisha),](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy3.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Furisode San (Apprentice Geisha), 2009
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West High School Girls,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy23.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
High School Girls, 2009
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Convenience Store Staff,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy24.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Convenience Store Staff, 2009
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the KimonoCowboy in the Far-WestTrain Station Security,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy1.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Train Station Security, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Street Performers,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy2.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Street Performers, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Archers,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy4.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Archers, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Maid Cafe Maids,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy5.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Maid Cafe Maids, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Yamanba,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy6.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Yamanba, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Professional Wrestlers,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy7.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Professional Wrestlers, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Pleasure Boat Men,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy8.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Pleasure Boat Men, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Pearl Divers,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy9.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Pearl Divers, 2009
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Kindergarteners,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy10.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Kindergarteners, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Home Robots,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy11.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Home Robots, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Office Ladies,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy12.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Office Ladies, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Chindon ya (Sandwich Men),](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy13.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Chindon ya (Sandwich Men), 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Harajuku Girls,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy14.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Harajuku Girls, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Gothic Lolitas,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy15.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Gothic Lolitas, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Karaoke Staff,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy16.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Karaoke Staff, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Fried Food Vendors,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy17.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Fried Food Vendors, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Host Club,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy18.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Host Club, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Train Conductors,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy19.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Train Conductors, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Police,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy20.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Police, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Jinrikisha Drivers,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy21.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Jinrikisha Drivers, 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Seamen,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy22.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Seamen, 2007
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Untitled (silhouette),](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy00.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Untitled (silhouette), 2006
chromogenic print
![Image from Adventures of the Kimono Cowboy in the Far-West Portrait with Traditional American Food,](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy000.jpg)
Cowboy in the Far-West
Portrait with Traditional American Food, 2007
chromogenic print
Adventures of the
Kimono Cowboy in the
Far-West
When friends were visiting me in Tokyo, they saw two ladies dressed in kimonos sitting across from us in a cafe.
One of my friends said:
‘Wouldn't the world be so much nicer if everyone wore their traditional clothes all the time?’
And I replied, ‘But that would mean that we would have to dress as cowboys day in and day out.’
How do our outward appearances affect the way that we meet and connect with other people?
I traveled Japan for several years as the 'Kimono Cowboy' photographing myself alongside real people with distinctive outward appearances associated with their place in Japanese society. Each time I went out to meet someone new for the project, I became the Kimono Cowboy from the moment I left home until the moment I returned; using this transformation as a way to connect with others.
The project is intentionally visually systematic and rigid, taking its stylistic cues from the stiff posing of early American portrait studios, and lampooning the photographic cataloguing of native peoples by Western anthropologists.
By taking on the iconic American Male archetype of ‘cowboy’ and entering the frame in this record of my travels in the Japanese ‘Far-West,’ I explore the complexly interconnected relationships between two countries and scrutinize the idea of the ‘exotic other’ as well as the neccisarily implied but often less considered role of ‘Western other’.
![Kimono Cowboy](img/projects/kimono-cowboy/cowboy000-square.jpg)