©Carlotta Cardana, Jin, 26, was motivated to become a host to make a lot of money and develop his personality. After 7 years of working in the business, Jin says “This business is fluid like water: sometime you make good sales, sometime you make bad sales. Girls come to host clubs because they’re lonely. Some of them want to support their favourite host like they would support a pop idol, even if supporting a host is more expensive”

Recent European photography has undergone a sophisticated shift toward cinematic portraiture, moving away from the clinically perfect digital aesthetic of previous years infavor of a more deliberate, filmic narrative. This trend treats the single frame not as a standalone portrait, but as a still from a larger, unseen movie. By utilizing anamorphic-style wide crops, dramatic rim lighting, and a palette of “true-to-life; yet moody color grading— photographers are building suspense and emotional tension. This narrative imagery often prioritizes intentional imperfection; hard surfaces, grain, and unposed expressions are used as storytelling devices to evoke a sense of history and human touch; that feels increasingly vital in an era of AI-generated perfection. The visual focus has moved from capturing how a subject looks to establishing a visual voice that suggests a story happened just before the shutter clicked and will continue long after. Today, we feature the work of Carlotta Cardana.

Carlotta Cardana is an editorial and commercial photographer based in London, specialized in portraits, travel and reportage photography. In her personal practice, she looks at how communities are affected by economic upheaval and oppression, indigenous spirituality, the relationship between humans and their environment and at how one’s identity is shaped by the society and space he/she inhabits, such as among minorities or subcultures.

Carlotta’s work has been awarded and exhibited in numerous international galleries and festivals and is included in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery and the Parliamentary Art Collection.

She is a regular contributor to international publications such as: National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The New York Times Style Magazine, Bloomberg, De Volkskrant, L’OBS, The Telegraph Magazine, and the Financial Times.

Instagram: @carlottacardana

An interview with Carlotta Cardana follows.

©Carlotta Cardana, Yuusi Yasaki, 20, was raised in an orphanage and started working as a host when he was 18 after seeing Japan’s n.1 host on TV. “What I like about this business is that I am the product and I am selling myself instead of selling other products. I can also advance in this career regardless of my age or experience, it all depends on how hard I work and how good I am: I have people older than me working as subordinates. If we are good, we can earn “lifetime earning” (200million yen/over one and a half million EUR) in a very short period.”

Kabukicho Nights

For anyone who has experienced the tumultuous nighttime scene of downtown Tokyo with its garish neon, fluorescent lights, pachinko parlors and other exotica, Carlotta Cardana’s portrait project, “Kabukicho Nights” provides a fascinating exploration of a largely unknown sub-culture of host clubs for young Japanese males who entertain female clients.  Cardana photographs these young hosts in environments in which they appear to be completely at ease in clothes that reflect the importance of being attractive to women customers seeking a “boyfriend” experience.  What intrigued me about the project, was its depiction of a sliver of Japanese society that reveals much about some of the social underpinnings of the culture.  The female clients in search of companionship buy time, drinks and conversation with young men who are primed for their roles, just as the geisha lavishes time attention on their male counterparts.

©Carlotta Cardana, Jun, 20, has been working as a host for less than a year. He was scouted while working at a bar in Shinjuku. “We are offering a service worth more than the money the clients pay for, we are giving them an out-of-the-ordinary experience. It is difficult to control the feelings of the girls. It is very important to keep in touch and communicate with them on a daily basis. The girls who come here also go to other host clubs, so I have rivals. I have to be their number one but at the same time if they get too much into me, then that becomes a problem. It’s a hard balance to keep.”

This narrative that underlies Cardana’s portraits makes them all the more interesting as one views the variety of fashions and looks that the male hosts have adopted.  There are many options for the female client to choose from: the three-piece suited fop; the young lost boy in a booth; the tuxedo-clad waif with blonde flowing curls; or the leather jacketed guy trying to look tough.  One interesting theme that emerges in viewing the portraits is how similar the faces of many of the male hosts actually look which Cardana explains below.

“Kabukichō is Tokyo’s red-light district and one of the liveliest once the moon has risen. Massive billboards advertise all different kinds of entertainment on offer, including young men available to keep women company. They can be found in “host clubs” – the male version of the more popular hostess clubs – which have started to open as women in Japan became more independent and emancipated. All types of women come to these clubs, from the office workers to the ones themselves working in clubs. They are all looking for a “boyfriend experience”, to spend some time with a man who treats them nicely and has a chat with them over drinks. Some say it is the only place where they can get that, and they are willing to pay a lot of money for it.

©Carlotta Cardana, Tsukasa Toujuo, 27, owns a club in Kabukicho and has been working as a host for the past decade. “The most difficult part of this job is that I have to flirt with girls that I don’t want to flirt with. Our job is selling a dream and sometimes that includes having sex, but we call it “business sex”. Some girls think they are the only one we are interested in, but in reality they aren’t. It’s our job is to make it feel like they are in a relationship with us, that’s our business.”

The men are usually from low-income families and are attracted to the job by the easy money and the popularity they can achieve. They spend a big part of their income on expensive clothes and accessories, but also plastic surgery. They all try to look like the most popular pop idols of the moment, an androgynous look achieved by surgically removing their beards, getting eyelid surgery to get rid of the “almond eye” and have a “western fold” but also getting tear bags injected because they “look cute”. In a few years they can earn what a “salary man” takes a whole life to earn, but it doesn’t come easy, as Tsukasa explains:

The most difficult part of this job is that I have to flirt with girls that I don’t want to flirt with. Our job is selling a dream and sometimes that includes having sex, but we call it ‘business sex’. Some girls think they are the only one we are interested in, but in reality, they aren’t. It’s our job to make it feel like they are in a relationship with us, that’s our business.”

©Carlotta Cardana, Takami Rei graduated university and started working as a “salary man” for a manufacturing company. He became a host to earn more money and he says he’s now financially fulfilled, with a nice apartment and a car that previously he could have only dreamed of. He thinks that host clubs come from Japanese history and our culture. “After WWII Japan was struggling, there was a lot of poverty and Japanese men focused solely on bringing money back home to make ends meet, neglecting their wives and families. Because of this, women became unsatisfied. Maybe in foreign countries people can be poor and still enjoy life, but that’s not how Japanese people function. Now Japan is richer and women are more affluent, so they can spend money how they like. Hosts are a way for them to get satisfied. Sometimes the girls don’t pay their bills right away and then their debt becomes so high that they disappear. In that case the club charges the host for the missing amount.

MSH: What first drew you into Tokyo’s red-light districts, and when did you realize there was a photographic project waiting for you there?

I lived in Tokyo between 2018 and 2019, so I was familiar with the neighborhood, its neon lights, bars and love hotels. At a dinner party at a friend’s house, I met a woman who was involved with a man who worked in one of the clubs. She was expressing her frustration at the relationship, while her friends were trying to make her realize that it was the man’s job to make her feel like he was her boyfriend – but that didn’t mean he was actually her boyfriend.  I was in disbelief as they explained to me the dynamics of what was happening in the clubs and wanted to see what they were like. We arranged a visit to one of the clubs and once I saw the spaces and the men working there, I immediately knew I wanted to make a project out of it.

©Carlotta Cardana, Sena, 21, was scouted at a bowling alley in his hometown and began working as a host there before moving to Tokyo. He finds it difficult to adjust himself according to the customer’s personality. His main motive to do this job is the good earnings, while his dream is to be a tourist guide in Kyoto.

MSH: Male sex work is often highly visible yet rarely understood. What did you feel was missing from the way this world is usually portrayed?

I was to start by saying that these men are not selling sex in the clubs – what they sell is a “boyfriend experience”. A woman goes to the club and pays a lot of money to spend a definite amount of time with a man she finds attractive, sitting at a table, drinking and chatting. The men are charming, they make the women feel desired and interesting – in fact, a woman told me that it was the only place where she was treated nicely. Some women lose sight of the fact that they are buying a fantasy and get emotionally involved, they shower the men with expensive gifts, spend all of their time and money in the clubs. It’s a very different dynamic from the typical sex work or escort services and I had never seen anything like it. To me it tells a lot about Japanese society and the condition of women in that country. It is known that Japan is a challenging place for women because of the inequalities and the strong gender roles.

©Carlotta Cardana

MSH: Your subjects make a living from being looked at. How did that complicate the dynamic between photographer and subject?

All the guys I photographed were very comfortable in front of the camera; it is their job to look nice. On one end this makes things easier for me as I don’t have to do all the work to make them feel at ease. At the same time this complicates things because they have very specific ideas of how to be photographed and how they want to look. It is harder to break through the facade and get a glimpse of the real person.

©Carlotta Cardana

MSH: Were the portraits collaborative? Did the men shape how they wanted to appear, or were you consciously constructing the image?

I try to be as collaborative as possible with the people I photograph, but for this series there was an extra level of difficulty due to the fact that I don’t speak Japanese, and their English is very limited. The men shaped how they wanted to appear, mainly because I photographed them at the beginning of their “shift”, either in the club where they work or just outside. They all stepped away from the table and the woman they were attending to for a few minutes so I could take their portrait.

©Carlotta Cardana

MSH: Many clients come to these spaces in search of fantasy. When you made these portraits, were you photographing the fantasy—or the person behind it?

It was very difficult for me to get to the person behind the fantasy as communication between me and the men was very limited. I had an interpreter with me, but it’s hard to build a connection when you have an extra barrier. So, I basically let them perform their character for me, which I found fascinating, while also trying to capture those in between instants where they’d slip out of their persona.

©Carlotta Cardana

MSH: How do you avoid turning people who are already commodified by their work into further spectacle? What surprised you most about the men you met while making this series?

I think it comes down to having a genuine connection with the people photographed and making sure they understand what I want to do during and after the shoot. I believe it is important to stay openminded and leave preconceived ideas behind. I don’t like to plan too much ahead of a shoot because I want to make sure to leave room for discovery, or for a person to show me who they are. It is about being respectful and understanding the circumstances of the person in front of you. It’s important for me that whoever I photograph sees themselves in the picture.

©Carlotta Cardana, Tsukasa Mikami, 30, has been working as a host for over 7 years. While studying to be a hairdresser, one of his classmates was doing really well as a host and that inspired him to pursue the same career. He hopes to open five hair salons one day.

MSH: Did you start to recognize recurring personas—performers, romantics, hustlers—or did the individuals resist those kinds of labels?

I did notice recurring “types”, but most of the information I was gathering came from their body language and what they were wearing, so maybe it would be more accurate to talk about “styles”. The communication issue was a struggle for me because I’m used to talk with my subjects for some time, to get a sense of who they are and also to give them a chance to have some sort of input in the creative process. It was a completely different way of working for me and it made me feel more like an observer.

©Carlotta Cardana

MSH: Was there a particular encounter or portrait that changed the way you understood masculinity, intimacy, or emotional labor?

The thing that surprised me the most was the ideal of masculinity they have in Japan. It’s very different from the western ideal. They go for a more androgynous look, often trying to look like the most popular pop idols of the moment. Some of them spend the equivalent of thousands of dollars per month in cosmetic procedures, including injecting tear bags to make them look full – which the women find “cute”. A few months after shooting this series, I went back to one of the clubs looking for a guy I photographed. He welcomed me at the door, but I didn’t recognize him at all; I told him I was looking for so and so and if he could get him for me. Aside from the fact that he had completely changed his wardrobe for expensive and branded pieces, he had undergone so many different procedures that his face was completely different. In very Japanese fashion he even apologized for it!

©Carlotta Cardana, Hayato, 20, was fascinated with the host lifestyle and would feed his curiosity by watching internet videos. This prompted him to move to Tokyo and become a host himself. Today, he and his roommate live in an apartment that is owned by the club owner they both work for. He likes his job because it allows him to have very good conversations with other people, wether they are customers or staff, although he finds it difficult to initiate a conversation for the first time. “I don’t have any dreams, I just live to have fun.”

©Carlotta Cardana, Roland, 26, is one of the most popular hosts and a national celebrity. He wants his industry to be socially recognised and in order to achieve this he takes part in charity events with international football players to help children with cancer. “In Japan 90% of people work for a company and those companies tend to put restrictions on appearance and a dress code for their employees. Because of this, the average appearance of the Japanese guy is very low, unsophisticated. They are also not good at treating the girls and taking them on dates. On the other hand, as hosts we are trained on how to entertain the girls and how to look. I want my customers to be happy, so the first thing I tell them is “don’t fall in love with me” because that would be a problem and they will be unhappy.”

MSH: After all the time you spent with these men, what do you think people misunderstand most about them?

I think the whole concept of a host club is very difficult to understand for a western audience, as there is nothing similar to it. People tend to see hosts as the equivalent of sex workers, but sex is not necessarily involved. There is also a dark side to these clubs. It’s been alleged that some of these clubs have connections to the criminal world and that women that have racked up a large debt run into trouble.

©Carlotta Cardana, Soshi Kurosaki, 25, is from Tokyo and has been working as a host for three years. “I started because I wanted to make much more money than my parents and in this job I can make a lot of money if I do well”.