I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now.

Background information, content

"The photo compendium 'I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now' is a critical and celebratory counter-narrative to what we know of Japanese photography today.
The book presents a much-needed counterpoint, complement, and challenge to historical precedents and the established canon of Japanese photography. This restorative history presents a wide range of photographic approaches brought to bear on the lived experiences and perspectives of women in Japanese society.
Editors Pauline Vermare and Lesley A. Martin, curator and writer Takeuchi Mariko, and photo-historians Carrie Cushman and Kelly Midori McCormick provide a critical historical and contemporary framework for understanding the work in three richly illustrated essays. Additional context is provided by an in-depth illustrated bibliography by Marc Feustel and Russet Lederman, and a selection of key critical writings from leading Japanese curators, critics, and historians such as Kasahara Michiko, Fuku Noriko, and others, many of which will be published in translation for the first time. While this book does not claim to be fully comprehensive or encyclopedic, its goal is to provide a solid foundation for a more thorough conversation about the contributions of Japanese women to photography—and an indispensable resource for anyone interested in a more robust history of Japanese photography." (© Aperture, 2024)

Additional information

The book 'I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now.' is designed by Ayumi HIGUCHI.

About the photographers, represented with their works

• Mikiko HARA, Mao ISHIKAWA, Miyako ISHIUCHI, Mari KATAYAMA, Rinko KAWAUCHI, Hiroko KOMATSU, Michiko KON, Yurie NAGASHIMA, Asako NARAHASHI, Mika NINAGAWA, Tamiko NISHIMURA, Rika NOGUCHI, Sakiko NOMURA, Momo OKABE, Toshiko OKANOUE, Yuki ONODERA, Tomoko SAWADA, Lieko SHIGA, Kunié SUGIURA, Yuki TAWADA, Toyoko TOKIWA, Tokuko USHIODA, Hitomi WATANABE, Eiko YAMAZAWA and Miwa YANAGI.
  

Photo books by the Japanese photographers, represented with their works

• HARA, Mikiko
  ISHIKAWA, Mao
  ISHIUCHI, Miyako
  KATAYAMA, Mari
  KAWAUCHI, Rinko
  KOMATSU, Hiroko
  KON, Michiko
  NAGASHIMA, Yurie
  NARAHASHI, Asako
  NINAGAWA, Mika
  NISHIMURA, Tamiko
  NOGUCHI, Rika
  NOMURA, Sakiko
  OKABE, Momo
  OKANOUE, Toshiko
  ONODERA, Yuki
  SAWADA, Tomoko
  SHIGA, Lieko
  SUGIURA, Kunié
  TAWADA, Yuki
  TOKIWA, Toyoko
  USHIODA, Tokuko
  WATANABE, Hitomi
  YAMAZAWA, Eiko
  YANAGI, Miwa