Fritsch, Lena - Ravens & Red Lipstick. Japanese Photography since 1945

"Lena Fritsch's Compendium on the History of Photography in Japan, 'Ravens and Red Lipstick' is more than a mere chronological list of the photographers included in the volume, such as Nobuyoshi ARAKI, Shigeio ANZAI, Yoko ASAKAI, Ken DOMON, Masahisa FUKASE, Naoya HATEKAYAMA, Tadehiko HAYASHI, HIROMIX, Takashi HOMMA, Eikoh HOSOE, Hiroki INOE, Kou INOSE, Miyako ISHIUCHi, Izima KAORU, Keisuke KATANO, Kikuji KAWADA, Rinko KAWAUCHI, Ihei KIMURA, Kazuo KITAI, Kubota MAHO, Eiichi MATSUMOTO, Ryuji MIYAMOTO, Mariko MORI, Daido MORIYAMA, Yasumasa MORIMURA, Yurie NAGASHIMA, Masatoshi NAITO, Takuma NAKAHIRA, Ikko NARAHARA, Mika NINAGAWA, Hitoshi NOMURA, Sakiko NOMURA, Katsumi OMORI, Chino OTSUKA, Tokihiro SATO, Tomoko SAWADA, Toshio SHIBATA, Lieko SHIGA , Osamu SHIIHARA, Issei SUDA, Yutaka TAKANASHI, Ryudai TAKANI, TARONASU, Shomei TOMATSU, Rumando TOKYO, Hiromi TSUCHIDA, Kanji WAKAE, Shin YANAGISAWA, Yoshio WATANABE, Iwai YAMAWAKI, Miwa YANAGI, Daisuke YOKOTA, Tomo ko YONEDA, Isshiki YOSHIKO, Kohei YOSHIYUKI, Chiba YUMIKO.

Many of these photographers interviewed Lena Fritsch herself and in this way illuminated the economic, political, cultural, artistic and personal background in which the photographs were taken.
The individual chapters of the title build on each other in chronological order, their headlines - 'Post-War Trauma', 'The Image Generation', 'New Photographic Freedom', Girl's Photography 'and' Contemporary Photography '- give the reading of the following text in advance.
It concludes with a 6-page timeline of Japanese photography from 1852 and biographical data from the interviewed photographers (Nobuyoshi ARAKI, Shigeo ANZAI, Yoko ASAKAI, Ken DOMON, Naoya HATEKAYAMA, Tadehiko HAYASHI, HIROMIX, Eikoh HOSOE, Miyako ISHIUCHi, Izima KAORU, Kawada KIKUJI, Rinko KAWAUCHI, Kazuo KITAI, Daido MORIYAMA, Yasumasa MORIMURA, Yurie NAGASHIMA, Mika NINAGAWA, Sakiko NOMURA, Katsumi OMORI, Tomoko SAWADA, Toshio SHIBATA, Lieko SHIGA, Issei SUDA, Takani RYUDAI, Zokyo RUMANDO, Hiromi TSUCHIDA, Tomoko YONEDA as well Kohei YOSHIYUKI).
Endnotes and a detailed list of further literature clarify both the scientific claim and the author's interest in arousing interest beyond the book.

To the outer design: to the as paperback published volume belongs a dust jacket. This is probably mainly the sales promotion, as the upper half of a semi-profile of the viewer / possible buyer looking woman (photo: Akira SATO, 1960) is decorated; the lower half, however, is modeled on a Japanese obi and refers to the typical appearance of Japanese photobooks. In front of a purple-colored background are in capital letters of main title ('eyecatcher' in red) and informative subtitles (in black) reproduced. Personally, I like the black-and-white cover itself better because both titles are equivalent (both in white and the same size).

Thanks to a relatively short introduction, the viewer feels immediately integrated into the subject matter and still remains there when the first chapter, 'Post-War Trauma', begins with a black separator page, to the - as in the introduction - one in larger typeface (approximately 20 pt. or more) Is followed by a short text that is richer in ideas, questions to be raised in the next chapter; only then does the actual informative text follow. This procedure is strictly followed in all five chapters.

Already in the second chapter, the text is enriched by an element of the intelligent, to the text matching book design of Sarah BORIS: it follows - corresponding to the content - on other paper than the rest of the text printed interviews, starting with Kikuji KAWADA and Eikoh HOSOE.
As Lena Fritsch writes in her text, the era of these photographers ('The Image Generation') is characterized by Subjective Photography, the author refers to the contemporary flow in Germany, in contrast to documentary photography and photojournalism of the previous 'Post-War' Period'.

The self-guided interviews enrich the text of Fritsch's life, refreshingly and clearly formulated with personal motives against the current political and economic circumstances. This becomes particularly clear in the following chapters, the 'Provoke' era ('New Photographic Freedom') and later the power of the female actors ('Girl's Photography') as well as the current photographers (in 'Contemporary Japanese Photography').

At the end of this richly illustrated, very entertaining book, the reader is not only inspired by literary and graphic content, but also on the latest research in the history of Japanese photography.
It is possible that one is now so infected that one can see the already out of print books about Japanese photobooks by Vartanian & Kaneko ('Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and' 70s ') and Manfred Heiting (' The Japanese Photobook, 1912-1980 ') turns.
Currently available is the three-volume set of 'Provoke' titles (as a reissue) as well as some highly recommended individual titles, which you can sometimes find here in the Cafe Lehmitz Photobooks-WebStore." (© Richard G. SPORLEDER)

"This rich volume provides one of the first overviews of Japanese photography to be published in English. Drawing on extensive research, Lena Fritsch traces the development of Japanese photography chronologically, from the severity of post-war Realism to the diverse ingenuity of photography in contemporary Japan.
Interspersed are fascinating original interviews with some of the most influential photographers of each era, including Daido MORIYAMA.

The photobook compendium 'Ravens and Red Lipstick' offers a visually bold survey of Japanese photography's recent history. Fritsch masterfully frames each movement with their business, education, and art-institutional backdrops.
She shows the consumerism and intense political debates of 1960s and '70s Japan, for example, to be central to the rough style of the 'Provoke' artists.

Fritsch's great achievement is to bring observations from a range of disciplines to bear on her commentary with imagination and clarity. As a result, this comprehensively illustrated volume is both an accessible introduction and an illuminating work of analysis of Japanese photography since 1945." (publisher's note, © Thames & Hudson, 2018)

About the author, Lena Fritsch:
Lena Fritsch is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, where she works on exhibitions and displays of international art.
Before joining the Ashmolean in 2017, she was Assistant Curator of International Art at Tate Modern.
A specialist in 20th and 21st century Japanese art and photography, and an experienced translator of the language, she has contributed to a number of exhibitions featuring Japanese art.