"PORTRAITS - WOMEN ARTISTS" par Michiko MATSUMOTO.  Editions Kawade Shobo Shinsha, Tokyo. 1995. Edition originale. Imprimé au Japon. in-4 carré, couverture cartonnée prune sous jaquette photo. Non paginé (120p). Texte bilingue Japonais / Anglais, traduction par Hideko Otake, illustré de 54 reproductions photographiques noir & blanc, hors texte, par Michiko Matsumoto.

 

"…In the early 1980's, I started to take portrait photos of women artists. The journey continued for more than ten years taking me from New York to Paris, London, Berlin and Rome. The object of my travel was simple. To visit women artists who I considered the most important creators of the 20th century, either at their home or studio and to make a portrait of each artist in her own space. I carefully avoided any special staging, lighting or unusual angles, because I wanted to capture the essence of the person exactly as it is. The only thing I needed was the space and the atmosphere where the subject could be comfortable. I had been taking documentary photos for ten years when I got the idea of making portrait photos. Gradually I had wanted to be more involved with each subject of my photos... to go deeper, but I had not yet found exactly how or what to do. One day I was leisurely looking through contact sheets. Suddenly, one of the shots captured my attention and moved me a lot. By looking directly at the photo – facing a subject straight on - l felt like I was standing right in front of the person and staring at her life. That's when I decided to concentrate on portrait photography…"

 

Ref LPB1248