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    The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography

    October 6, 2015–February 21, 2016

    Getty Center

    1979 and 2006, Kitakamakura, Japan

    1979 and 2006, Kitakamakura, Japan, 2006, from the series Imagine Finding Me, Otsuka Chino, chromogenic print. Courtesy of the Wilson Centre for Photography. © Otsuka Chino

  • OMIAI ♡

    OMIAI ♡, 2001, Sawada Tomoko, chromogenic print. The J. Paul Getty Museum, purchased with funds provided by the Photographs Council. © Sawada Tomoko

  • Portrait of Second-hand Clothes No. 8

    Rasen Kaigan 46, 2011, from the series Rasen Kaigan (Spiral Shore), Shiga Lieko, chromogenic print. Mona and Anthony E. Nicholas. Image courtesy of and © Shiga Lieko

  • 1982 and 2005, Paris, France

    1982 and 2005, Paris, France, 2005, from the series Imagine Finding Me, Otsuka Chino, chromogenic print. Courtesy of the Wilson Centre for Photography. © Otsuka Chino

  • Portrait of Second-hand Clothes No. 8

    Portrait of Second-hand Clothes No. 8, 1994, Onodera Yuki, gelatin silver print. Collection of Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck. © Onodera Yuki, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

  • Untitled

    Untitled, 2005, From the series Cui Cui, Kawauchi Rinko, chromogenic print. Courtesy of and © Kawauchi Rinko

The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography

October 6, 2015–February 21, 2016, Getty Center

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Beginning in the 1990s, a number of young female photographers in Japan garnered attention by making provocative self-portraits and intimate images of domestic scenes. Challenging the status quo of the male-dominated photography community, their work prompted the controversial and reductive term onnanoko shashin, or “girl photographs”.

This exhibition showcases the versatile and complex work of five midcareer Japanese-born artists who emerged in the wake of “girl photography”: Kawauchi Rinko, Onodera Yuki, Otsuka Chino, Sawada Tomoko, and Shiga Lieko. Mavericks in their field, these women continue in the tradition of such pioneers as Ishiuchi Miyako, whose work appears in the companion exhibition Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows.

The J. Paul Getty Museum thanks the Japan Foundation for their support of this exhibition.

Related Events

A variety of special programs complement the exhibition. All events are free, unless otherwise noted. Seating reservations are required. For reservations and information, please call (310) 440-7300 or see information on planning a visit.

TALK
Contemporary Japanese Photography: A Reaction against “Girl Photography”

Sawada Tomoko and Shiga Lieko, contemporary photographers concerned with notions of identity as it relates to the medium of photography, speak with Kasahara Michiko, chief curator, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, about the challenges and influences impacting women photographers in Japan.
Thursday, October 15, 7:00 p.m.
Getty Center: Museum Lecture Hall

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PERFORMANCE
Gordon Getty Concert: OOIOO

In a rare U.S. appearance, Japan's OOIOO brings the powerful and joyous energy of its unique musical language to the Getty Center. Under the leadership of Yoshimi, a founding member of pioneering noise rock band Boredoms, the group has subverted expectations and warped perceptions of what constitutes pop and experimental music, making OOIOO a definitive example of artistically adventurous women working in music today. Tickets $20.
Saturday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Getty Center: Harold M. Williams Auditorium

Learn more and buy tickets

TOURS
Artists' Point-of-View Tour

Join photographers Sawada Tomoko and Shiga Lieko, whose work appears in the exhibition The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography, to learn about their processes of creating photographic series. Sawada talks about the difficult personal transformation she underwent to generate the self-portraits that appear in her project OMIAI ♡, while Shiga recounts how the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami impacted the development of her mesmerizing series Rasen Kaigan. Sign up begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Information Desk.
Thursday, October 8, 1:30 p.m.
Getty Center: Museum galleries

Curator’s Gallery Tour

Amanda Maddox, assistant curator of photography, the J. Paul Getty Museum, leads a tour of the exhibitions Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows and The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography. Meet under the stairs in the Entrance Hall.
Thursday, October 22 and November 19, 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 22, 2:30 p.m.
Getty Center: Museum galleries

PAST PROGRAMS

Contemporary Japanese Photography: A Reaction against Girl Photography

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