Bruce Gilden Go

Named for one of the most intellectually challenging board games in the world, played primarily in China, Japan, and Korea by players who use black-and-white stones to acquire territory, Go presents Bruce Gilden's photographic explorations of the darker side of Japan. In striking, full-page, black-and-white images, Gilden documents the brutal reality of a Japanese street. In-your-face pictures of Yakuza (mobsters), Bosozoku (members of biker gangs), and street people -- characters who are alternately intimidating, bloodied, tatooed, frightening, and disheveled -- are sporadically interspersed with manga cartoons for a revelatory glimpse at a Japan that looks nothing like its familiar image of calm, orderly, hyper-efficient perfection.