The Easel

Archives: Literary Hub

24th September 2024

How Japanese Female Photographers Channeled Exclusion Into Experimentation

Japan has a strong lineage in photography and some of its stars have global reputations. Those stars are all men. A new publication and “canon-revising” exhibition highlights that country’s female photographers who have long battled for attention. While covering some of the same tough subjects as the men (sex workers, big city street life), they also offer perspectives on domesticity and women’s roles that are “both delicate and blunt”. A revelation. A long essay on the topic is here.

Am I supposed to read all this? On spending time with Jenny Holzer’s word art.

A fresh, disarming take on Holzer’s text-based installations. She is not the first text artist so why do we pay so much attention to her mix of “pseudo-philosophy, wise-guy polemic, and aimless chatter”? Some text clearly comes from the artist but at other times, who is speaking? If we don’t try to read the words as they scroll past, the whole show seems a bit absurd. And what if we do try to read them?  “If one clear, activating, right-headed message is the point—why take so many words to say it?