Im So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now

This exhibition reconsiders and expands on the history of Japanese photography through the work of twenty-eight intergenerational artists from the 1950s to today. About I'm So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now reconsiders and expands on the history of Japanese photography through the work twenty-eight intergenerational artists from the 1950s to today. Presented in partnership with Aperture and curated by Pauline Vermare, Lesley A. Martin, and Takeuchi Mariko, the exhibition includes work by Fujioka Aya, Hara Mikiko, Hiromix, Ishikawa Mao, Ishiuchi Miyako, Katayama Mari, Kawauchi Rinko, Komatsu Hiroko, Kon Michiko, Nagashima Yurie, Narahashi Asako, Ninagawa Mika, Nishimura Tamiko, Noguchi Rika, Nomura Sakiko, Okabe Momo, Okanoue Toshiko, Onodera Yuki, Sawada Tomoko, Shiga Lieko, Sugiura Kunié, Suzuki Nozomi, Tawada Yuki, Tokiwa Toyoko, Ushioda Tokuko, Watanabe Hitomi, Yamazawa Eiko and Yanagi Miwa. Spanning photography, installation, photobooks, and printed matter, the exhibition explores the experiences and perspectives of women in Japan through delicate and blunt observations of everyday life, critical reflections on the roles inhabited and reshaped by Japanese women, and approaches that push the boundaries of photography. The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication (Aperture, 2024) that expands upon content of the show through essays, historical material, and a comprehensive bibliography of photobooks made by Japanese women. I'm So Happy You Are Here is an exhibition with a strong international pedigree. Following its debut at Rencontres d'Arles, France (2024), the exhibition has traveled to The Hague (2024), Frankfurt (2025), London (2026), and Tokyo (2026), before arriving at ICP for its first US showing here in New York. Financial Times | Arles: "The highlight" of Rencontres d'Arles. W Magazine | London: "The Japanese Women Who Rewrote Photography's Rules." Time Out Tokyo | Tokyo: "The exhibition offers a vital counter-narrative to a photographic canon long dominated by male figures." About Curators: Lesley A. Martin is executive director of Printed Matter. Most recently, she was the creative director of Aperture, where she served as editor on more than one hundred books on photography, and as founding publisher of The PhotoBook Review. Takeuchi Mariko is a photography critic, curator, and professor at Kyoto University of the Arts. Previously, she served as visiting researcher at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and at the National Museum of Art, Osaka. Pauline Vermare is the Phillip and Edith Leonian Curator, Photography, Brooklyn Museum. Previously, she served as the cultural director of Magnum Photos in New York, and curator at the International Center of Photography and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. About Aperture: Aperture is a nonprofit publisher that leads conversations around photography worldwide. From its new home opening this September in New York, Aperture connects global audiences and supports artists through its acclaimed quarterly magazine, books, exhibitions, digital platforms, public programs, limited-edition prints, and awards. Established in 1952 to advance "creative thinking, significantly expressed in words and photographs," Aperture champions photography's vital role in nurturing curiosity and encouraging a more just, tolerant society. For more information, visit aperture.org Read more Toggle Installation Photography Mixed media