i found this photographer while google image searching old illustrations of little red riding hood (if you're not familiar with the original fairy tale i suggest you do some research, it consists of seduction and cannibalism). i saw Yanagi's image of little red riding hood from her series Fairy Tales, which focuses on fairy tales involving young girls and elderly women, and was directed to a german gallery that represents her.
Yanagi was born in Kobe City, Japan and has had solo shows at the German Guggenheim, the Chelsea Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, among others. her work revolves around the female identity- and this is where i find i am most intrigued with Yanagi; the way she is dealing with and blurring this female identity. she has created three main series, Fairy Tales, Elevator Girls and My Grandmothers.
in Fairy Tales (first image) she uses only young girls to represent both the young and old women the fairy tales she has chosen require, having the girls playing old women wear masks, creating both complex and haunting images.
in Elevator Girls (second image) Yanagi explores the role of Japanese "elevator girls", women who operate the elevators in japanese department stores. the piece was both a performance and a photographic object, and acted as a social commentary, of which she says "It represented myself and my circumstances. A young woman who operates an elevator works in a narrow, box-like space, which elevator girls call "the basket." They have to repeat the same gesture over and over all day. I felt that the Elevator Girls series was very cynical in the beginning when I started it as a performance, not as photography. I had a woman sit still in the same posture smiling in a narrow space wearing an elevator girl's uniform. I also had women keep sitting or smiling in a real-size elevator hall which I created." the colors and eerie surrealism of this series are astounding and effective.
in My Grandmothers (third image) Yanagi had 18-34yr old women describe what they imagined their lives would be like in fifty years and created images (using straight photography and computer generated images) based on their descriptions, creating her "own fictitious grandmothers". the resulting images create an oddly calming potential future.
i was initially struck with her disturbing and beautiful fairy tale images, but the more i looked through her work the more involved i became in all three of her series. her handling of the female identity is truly intriguing. it's truly amazing that i happened to just stumble upon her, as i can really relate to her work, and i think she has found her way towards the top of my list of photographers.
to read a really interesting interview with Yanagi, click here
and to view her website (lots of images) click here
images: yanagimiwa.net/e/
Thanks for sharing, it was interesting to read!
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