Watabe Yukichi - A Criminal Investigation - 2011

A Criminal Investigation focuses on a particularly gruesome and mysterious murder committed in Japan in the late 1950s. Sato Tadashi's body was found disfigured and badly burned, these gruesome circumstances lead to local police forming a special unit to investigate the crime. Watabe, a freelance photojournalist at the time, managed to arrange special access to document the investigation in its entirety. A Criminal Investigation contains a strong narrative quality and the seventy black and white dramatically composed photographs powerfully conjure the look of film stills of that time. The design compliments the source material beautifully, the rough linen cover and black elastic ribbon that holds the cover in place give the object the feel of a case file. While the lightweight, warm-tinted newsprint-style paper has been french folded with deep gravure like printing and typewriter font also echo the feel of the period.