Ishiuchi Miyako
As well as the five male Provoke photographers, Kohi Taki, Takuma Nakahira, Takahiko Okada, Yutaka Takanashi, and Daido Moriyama, there were female photographers who gained priominence in the 70's and 80's. Japananese photographers were interested in displaying their work in a photo book format. Ishiuchi Miako assisted some of the more well known male photographers, such as Araki and Moriyama, but she also created her own bodies of work.
APARTMENT
For this series Miyako visited derelict, cramped, dark apartment buildings similar to the ones in which she lived with her family. Her work is partly documentary, and partly political. She invites the viewer into the world she inhabits. She has used her camera to document what has happened to the Tokyo where she lived after the war.
Tasks
1. Read through this interview with Ishiuchi Miyako and answer the following questions.
2. Choose one of the photographs from the Apartment series to analyse.
- What is her work about? What is she documenting as a photographer?
- What experiences are represented in her photographs?
- How do the images make you feel?
- When you look at the series of images, what do they tell you about post-war Japan from a woman's perspective?
- What is of value in this story?
2. Choose one of the photographs from the Apartment series to analyse.
- What do you notice about the subject matter?
- What can you write about the composition of the photograph? What do you think that the photographer wanted to reveal to the viewer?
- What is the effect of shooting this subject in gritty, grainy black and white?
- What do you notice about the photographs as a series? Do you think that they have been created to tell a story?
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3. Watch this short film clip of Ishiuchi Mikyako and consider the following:
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4. Create a series of images where you can create your own reality. Consider the following:
- What will be your subject matter? What do you want to document or create? What is your story? What interests or 'provokes' you?
- How will you photograph your subject? What do you want the viewer to know about your subject?
- What do you want the viewer to feel, think when they view your photographs?
- Will you use digital, film, or moving image?
- Will your photographs or film be in black and white or colour?
- Will your photographs be in focus, will they be deliberately blurred?
- How will you compose your shots?
- Will your photographs tell a story, create a mood, be poetic, suggest ideas, be relatively abstract?
The images above were taken on a single bus journey using the Provoke App on my phone. This was just an experiment to see how the app would work. I wanted to see how the app could make my images look grainy, dark and how it could capture shadows. There are a few of the images that work well as the shadows are sharp.
Many of the images are blurred from the movement of the bus. The images still look very polished so I would like to experiment further. The experiment was useful for a number of reasons. I was able to use my phone as a 'sketchbook' as I investigated several different 'scenes' throughout various stages of my journey. I was able to 'jot down' various unknown areas of London and would like to revisit some of the areas with a film camera, capturing the light and shadows and shapes created. Perhaps I can take a closer look whilst on foot. I could revisit the areas and perhaps interview some of the locals.