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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The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography
October 6, 2015–February 21, 2016Getty Center
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
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
Exhibition Checklist
Gallery Text
Read and download the gallery text that accompanies this exhibition in PDF (11 PP, 1.5 MB).
PAST PROGRAMS
Contemporary Japanese Photography: A Reaction against Girl Photography