Avenue A - In that name -
It's a common story.
At the age of 22, I admired Robert Frank, Harry Callahan, and Mapplethorpe, so I withdrew my meager savings and traveled alone to New York.
I was lucky enough to rent an old apartment in the Upper West area overlooking Central Park to the east, but reality was waiting for me.
I soon realized that even my impulsive thoughts that New York might change me were delusions. I was painfully alone, unable to speak any English. Looking back, I think I was taking pictures in the city as if possessed by something, but I was filling my void by talking to my subjects.
As dusk approached, I took the subway, which costs $1 no matter how far I go, to Avenue A in the Lower East. Tompkins Square Park, one deli, and a row of cheap bars where you can drink beer for $1 a glass line the street. It is said that it is better not to go east of Avenue A, the border between safety and danger. However, I am naturally more susceptible to the whispers of the devil than the smile of an angel. Overnight, I was possessed by the charm of Avenue A. Aspiring artists gather here every night, chatting and discussing art, playing billiards until late or early in the morning in the purple smoke. Some even play saxophones or pets. Young people who want to be singers tell the story of Madonna singing here, superimposing it on themselves and passing it on as if it were a legend. The artists who have their daily quiet battles are crushed, but none of them have abandoned their optimistic humor. The wriggling of souls lurking in the darkness is hotly saturated in the stagnant air.
When I returned to Tokyo, I wanted to make my studio an energetic place like that, so I named it 'Avenue A.' It's a place where various aspiring creatives chat about serious topics, funny topics, silly topics, and so on. And when someone is in trouble, they can honestly help each other. That's the kind of place it is. I still haven't received the nearly 5,000 positives I sent by sea from New York. But I'm still walking down Avenue A.
Eitaro Yoshioka
