Kohtaro Iizawa - Shutter and Love

1996. Studio Voice Books, Tokyo, Japan, First edition.

“Rainbow-colored jelly beans and condoms; a smiling Mickey Mouse emerging from between the splayed legs of a squatting girl; a worn-out toy bunny thrown down onto the floor of a messy room: these are some of the images to be encountered in this compilation of works by 16 young Japanese female photographers. As the title suggests, the book is about girls' vision of their own queendom, built upon the fragile, ephemeral peak of their own fantasies or boringly normal everyday routines. Girls are arrested in moments of intimacy - lying naked in bed with another girl, or taking a bath in a tiny 'unit bathroom' that symbolizes the life of young singles living alone in Tokyo. The publication is timely considering two fashions that have emerged in Tokyo in the 90s - diaristic, snapshot photography and girly culture. Araki emerged as artist of the moment with his 'private novel' works, and arty Tokyoites - who haven't even heard of Jeff Koons - are comfortably familiar with the names of Nan Goldin, Jack Pierson and Wolfgang Tillmans. Now that Yurie Nagashima, harbinger of the 20-something generation, has published two books following her sensational 1993 debut, and the ex-Araki-model-now-cult-idol/photographer Hiromix's photos of herself and her friends have featured in the 1995-96 J-Wave FM campaign posters, young girls are flooding out onto the streets with every conceivable type of camera from 'professional' SLRs to compacts and disposables.” - Eri Kawade from Frieze

Edited by photo critic Kohtaro Iizawa, Shutter and Love: Girls are Dancin’ on in Tokyo features the works of 16 Japanese female photographers: Yurie Nagashima, Saori Tsuji, Masako Kobayashi, Mie Iizuka, Yasuko Shiratsuchi, Kohide Nakashima, Ayako Kaneko, Aiko Nakano, Yukari Ojima, Maya, Mariko Takahashi, Miwa Tozaki, Manako Okamoto, Kumi Oka, Aya Fujioka, and Mika Ninagawa.