Issei Suda presents an almost absurd and automatic parade of Tokyo on Christmas Eve, capturing it with humor tinged with cynicism.

Holy Night presents photographs that Issei Suda took on the night of Christmas Eve 1991 in Tokyo.

« I wonder how many Japanese people actually think of Jesus Christ on Christmas. We just observe Christmas Eve by buying cake and bringing it home to eat; lovers spend it together as the most romantic night of the year. These kinds of customs have become the norm. I could suddenly play the part of the righteous Buddhist and call everyone out on it – You dumbasses, you aren’t even Christians – but it feels like it’d be a waste. » —  Issei Suda

Biography

Issei Suda (born in Tokyo in 1940 and died in 2019) graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography. He initially worked as a photographer for the Tenjo Sajiki theater company, before becoming an independent photographer. A photographer of everyday life, the instantaneous, the furtive and the snapshot, he teaches at Tokyo College of Photography and Zokei University in Tokyo, as well as at the Photography Department of Osaka University of the Arts.