Photography is just a means to find myself through others: Ishiuchi

▲ The artist during the conversation with La Jornada, and a pair of shoes that belonged to Frida Kahlo, image from the Frida by Ishiuchi catalog. Photo by Omar González and © Ishiuchi Miyako / courtesy of The Third Gallery Aya

Omar González Morales

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, p. 5

Miyako Ishiuchi (Gunma, Japan, 1947) doesn't define herself as a photographer, although her images have captured the essence of humanity over time. The Japanese artist visited Mexico, where she gave a lecture on "Getting to Know Frida Kahlo" last Thursday, 13 years after being invited by the museum that bears the painter's name.

I'm not a photographer. For me, it's just a way to discover myself through others. The most important thing is to consider ourselves through what we've experienced , Ishiuchi said in an exclusive interview with La Jornada.

The artist grew up in a postwar context, where military brutality was a daily occurrence. She was born in 1947 in the city of Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, two years after the United States atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

His childhood was marked by the fact that he grew up on the outskirts of Yokosuka. There was a nearby US base where soldiers sexually abused women. For the most part, these crimes went unpunished.

I got into photography out of revenge. I wanted to leave immediately, not out of fear, but out of pain. When I could, I left and began this search; I wanted to find myself, and I'm still doing that today , she said.

She asserted that she doesn't consider herself an expert in photography. For her, what's still relevant today is irrelevant: "I don't know anything about photography. I'm self-taught; I'm not interested in camera techniques or lenses, but rather in what I can see, in meeting others, and in feeling alive ."

Many of the images he has captured are pieces of clothing, shoes, bags, scarves, stained jackets, remnants left behind by victims of atomic explosions. His idea is that these objects are testimonies of life, stories, memories that remain relevant and convey a message: Our essence endures despite the passage of time .

Faced with the current atmosphere of war on an international scale, Miyako Ishiuchi sighed and exclaimed with sadness: I feel sorry for our youth, because they are living in very dark days .

Feminism and its work

Ishiuchi stood out in an environment where sexism and misogyny were common. “The situation for women photographers today is a little better, although, when you think about it, it hasn't changed at all. Women who have families sometimes also have understanding partners who allow them to pursue their careers, but others are tied down in their role.”

Machismo persists, it oppresses; I experienced it myself. Even so, I don't consider myself a feminist pioneer, because when I did it, it wasn't because of flags or ideology. I did what I wanted, period. I didn't stop pursuing what I liked. The rest came on its own , she clarified.

Yokosuka is the place she always returns to when she closes her eyes. It's an image that never leaves her: I'm so grateful to that city; it was my home, where this search for truth began. It's changed a lot today, but it doesn't sadden me; those new landscapes keep me fascinated .

Another word that stands out in her breviary is mother . For her, the role of femininity is very important: "About 20 years ago, my mother passed away. I can't say we had a great relationship, but I realized something, and the differences didn't matter. When she was gone, I discovered that each of us had her own destiny as a woman ."

Love, pain and Frida

In 2013, Ishiuchi was invited by the Frida Kahlo Museum to take photographs related to the Mexican painter. Two catalogs were produced: Frida by Ishiuchi and Frida: Love and Pain— the latter published only in Japan.

After the photos, I felt very thoughtful. I reflected that Frida was a woman who always linked love and pain with being alive. One of the objects that stayed with me was her prosthetic foot, made of wood. I realized that it was truly her limb; the other, the original, no longer existed. That's what objects can become for us , she commented.

That's why she's visiting Mexico during the month dedicated to her country. Invited by the Japan Foundation in Mexico, Ishiuchi offered a discussion at the Frida Kahlo Center, and on Friday, June 20, at the AC Historical Archive and Mining Museum, she gave a lecture entitled "Postwar Japan in the Photography of Ishiuchi Miyako."

The teacher insisted, at the end of the conversation with this newspaper: Photography is not my goal. My quest is to feel alive. Just that .

Europa Press

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, p. 5

Madrid. Florence's Uffizi Gallery announced it will impose strict limits on taking selfies and memes inside the gallery after a tourist tore the 17th-century Portrait of Ferdinand de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, while attempting to pose like the painting's subject.

The problem of visitors coming to museums to create memes or take selfies for social media is widespread: we will set very precise limits, preventing behavior incompatible with the purpose of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage , said the director of the Uffizi Gallery, Simone Verde, reported the Italian newspaper La Nazione.

According to the media, the tourist has already been reported for damaging the work Portrait of Ferdinand de' Medici... by Anton Domenico Gabbiani. The work has since been removed for redecoration.

The tourist could be charged with negligent damages if he is found to have acted recklessly. The gallery's cameras captured the moment when the young man, who was being photographed by a woman, took a step back and appeared to stumble.

He then placed his hands on the painting. Realizing the disaster, he pretended nothing had happened and began to look at the painting, but the Uffizi Gallery's staff and security immediately intervened, according to local media.

The incident occurred on the same day that the museum was celebrating the removal of a massive 60-meter crane, placed in the gallery plaza 20 years ago for expansion work on the building.

The accident is reminiscent of what happened recently at Verona's Palazzo Maffei, when a tourist also damaged Nicola Bolla's contemporary work, depicting Van Gogh's chair. The man, accompanied by a woman, waited for security personnel to leave the room before sitting on the chair—made of hundreds of Swarovski crystals—while the woman photographed him. The man smashed the piece into pieces when he leaned on it.