Ishiuchi Miyako

Amanda Maddox

A maverick in the history of photography, lshiuchi Miyako burst onto the photography scene in Tokyo in the mid-1970s, at a time when men dominated the field in Japan. Working prodigiously over the last forty years, she has created an impressive oeuvre and quietly influenced generations of photographers born in the postwar era. Recipient of the prestigious Hasselblad Award in 2014, lshiuchi ranks as one of the most significant photographers working in Japan today. Spurred by her contentious relationship with her hometown, Yokosuka - site of an important American naval base since 1945 - lshiuchi chose that city as her first serious photographic subject. Grainy, moody, and deeply personal, these early projects established her career. This choice of subject also defined the beginning of lshiuchi's extended exploration of American occupation and the shadows it cast over postwar Japan....