Photography has always had a complicated relationship with memory. It promises to hold on to moments, but it also shows how unreliable memory really is. This tension runs through two recent photobooks by one of the most interesting Japanese photographers working today. Family of Lies (Three Books, 2024) and Tebajima (Kawazu Kikaku, 2024), by Hajime […]
Japan is a country that pulls many artists into its clutches like a cultural tractor beam. For reasons unknown, Japan has dominated the imaginations of travellers, writers, artists, and historians to a degree that borders, for many, on obsession. I have never been to Japan, but I can admit being caught in the clutches of […]
Mikkiko Hara by José Bértolo There is no doubt that Japanese photography is fashionable right now. But what do we mean when we say, “Japanese photography is fashionable right now”? Which Japanese photography are we referring to? What vision of Japanese photography do we have? For a long time in the West, […]
The first part of Jörg’s post that needs immediate attention is the following: his response to the broad claims made between the journal questions and the survey responses indicates a lack of serious criticism. I might address that I felt several publisher responses, from my end, were quite diplomatic in their answers. There was […]