I’m So Happy You Are Here

NEW YORK: APERTURE, 2024

Femmes photographes Japonaises: des années 1950 à nos jours

PARIS: TEXTUEL, 2024

In collaboration with Russet Lederman I wrote the extended illustrated bibliographic section of this groundbreaking book edited by Pauline Vermare and Lesley Martin: “A critical and celebratory counternarrative to what we know of Japanese photography today.”

Including portfolios by 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 and Yanagi Miwa.

Artists presented in the extended illustrated bibliography: Anrakuji Emi, Fujioka Aya, Hiromix, Hosokura Mayumi, Ishikawa Mao, Kajioka Miho, Kiyomiya Yumiko, Matsumoto Michiko, Miyazaki Izumi, Nanjo Naoko, Nomura Sakiko, Nomura Keiko, Nihongi Satomi, Ōishi Yoshino, Orihara Kei, Otsuka Chino, Shishido Harumi, Shiomi Mieko, Soejima Miki, Suzuki Mayumi, Suzuki Moe, Takeda Hana, Tokyo Rumando, UmeKayo, Yoneda Tomoko, Yoshida Mutsuko, and Yoshida Ruiko.

Published in an English edition (Aperture), a French edition (Textuel), and a forthcoming Japanese edition (Akaaka).

Publisher description: I’m So Happy You Are Here 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.

Descriptif éditeur: Femmes photographes japonaises, des années 1950 à nos jours, un livre-événement qui comble une grande lacune historiographique. Cette somme met en lumière les œuvres réalisées par les femmes photographes japonaises des années 1950 à nos jours. Si la reconnaissance de la scène japonaise a surtout bénéficié aux photographes masculins depuis les années 1970, nombreuses ont pourtant été les femmes artistes qui ont joué un rôle capital dans le développement du médium, avec une indiscutable virtuosité. À travers plus de 500 images, comprenant une vaste sélection de photographies, de fac-similés de livres et une anthologie de textes, cet ouvrage révèle l’immensité de ce qui a été occulté et constitue un enrichissement critique et joyeux de l’histoire de la photographie japonaise.