Tokuko Ushioda (潮田登久子, ''Ushioda Tokuko,'' b. 1940) is a Japanese photographer whose ''Bibliotecha'' series won the
Domon Ken Award, the
Photographic Society of Japan
The is an organization set up in December 1952 to advance photography in Japan. Its membership of about 1,400 includes both amateur and professional photographers, as well as researchers, critics, and people in the photographic industry. Its addr ...
’s
Lifetime Achievement Award
Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions.
Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include:
A
* A.C. ...
, and the Higashikawa International Photo Festival's Domestic Photographer Award in 2018.
Ushioda has works in the collections of
Smith College Museum of Art
The Smith College Museum of Art, abbreviated SCMA, is the art museum of Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, Northampton, Massachusetts. First established in 1870, the museum is part of the American Alliance of Museums, Five Coll ...
in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
;
Mead Art Museum of
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
,
Kyushu Sangyō University, Fukuoka, Japan; the
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan;
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
The is an art museum concentrating on photography.
As the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, it was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo. The museum also ...
, Tokyo, Japan;
Ken Domon Museum of Photography, Yamagata, Japan; and
Higashikawa Town, Hokkaido, Japan.
Career
Ushioda was born in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Japan, in 1940.
She studied under
Ōtsuji Kiyoji at Kuwasawa Design School and graduated in 1963.
She also studied under
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
was a Japanese-American photographer. His decades-long career explored expressions of modernist design in traditional architecture, the quiet anxieties of urban life in Tokyo and Chicago, and the camera's capacity to bring out the abstract in the ...
. She has worked as a freelance photographer since 1975, and taught at Kuwasawa Design School and
Tokyo Zōkei University from 1966-1978.
She married photographer
Shinzō Shimao
is a Japanese photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs.
...
in 1978, and their daughter is the
manga artist
A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga.
Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...
and illustrator Maho Shimao.
Ushioda is perhaps best known for her series ''Bibliotecha (Hon no keshiki, 本の景色),'' for which she photographed books as valid art objects in 1995. She published the
photobook
A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book.
Early
Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...
''Bibliotecha'' in 2017, dividing the images into 26 chapters that show books beyond their presence as mere physical objects.
Ushioda is also known for her series ''ICE BOX'' (''Reizōko, 冷蔵庫)'', in which she photographed the contents of various families'
refrigerator
A refrigerator, commonly shortened to fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermal insulation, thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to ...
s.
She published the photobook ''ICE BOX'' in 1996, depicting compositions of many refrigerators captured open with the contents inside, or closed from the front, as well as in various settings within the households.
Her series ''My Husband'' (''Mai hazubando,'' マイハズバンド) "chronicles Ushioda’s family life and artistic growth" during the 1970s.
The artist found the prints forty years later in March 2020, leading to the publication of a two-part photobook in 2022.
Publications
* ''My Husband,'' Torch Press, 2022
* ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' Genkishobou, 2017
* ''My Teacher’s Atelier,'' Genkishobou 2017
* ''Misuzu,'' Genkishobou, 2016
* ''HATS,'' Parol, 2004
* ''ICE BOX,'' Beebooks, 1996
* ''Chinese People'', Self-published, 1986
Awards
* 2019 Kuwasawa Special Award
* 2018 The 37th
Domon Ken Award
* 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award,
Photographic Society of Japan Awards Since its inception, the Photographic Society of Japan has annually presented a large number of awards.
Awards
1952–1956
1957–1984
1985–1993
1994–2003
2004–2008
2009–2017
2018-2020
{, class="w ...
* 2018 Domestic Photographer Award, The 34th Higashikawa Awards
Exhibition History
Selected Solo Exhibitions
* 2018 ''Domon Ken Award Winner's Exhibition, BIBLIOTHECA,'' Ken Domon Museum of Photography (Yamagata)
* 2018 ''Domon Ken Award Winner's Exhibition, BIBLIOTHECA,'' The Gallery, Nikon Plaza (Shinjuku, Osaka)
* 2017 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' PGI, Tokyo
* 2017 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' Galerie 412, Tokyo
* 2010 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' Morioka Shoten, Tokyo
* 2009 ''ICE BOX,'' CAFÉ UNIZON, Okinawa
* 2008 ''ICE BOX'', Port Gallery T, Osaka
* 2006 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' Imbrie Hall Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo
* 2004 ''Bookmart,'' Contemporary Photo Gallery, Tokyo
* 2003 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' Waseda University Library, Tokyo
* 2003 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' Contemporary Photo Gallery, Tokyo
* 2003 ''BIBLIOTHECA,'' The 5th Library Fair at Tokyo International Forum
* 2002 ''Seika/Sacred Song,'' Contemporary Photo Gallery, Tokyo
* 2001 ''HATS,'' Contemporary Photo Gallery, Tokyo
* 1999 ''ICE BOX,'' Setagaya Lifestyle Design Center, Tokyo
* 1998 ''ICE BOX,'' Art Gallery Artium, Tokyo
* 1994 ''HATS,'' Gallery MOLE, Tokyo
* 1992 I''CE BOX,'' Tokyo Design Center, Tokyo
* 1989 ''Seikatsu/LIFE,'' Film Round Gallery, Tokyo
* 1976 ''Hohoemi no tejo/Smile was handcuffed,'' Shinjuku Nikon Salon, Tokyo
Selected Group Exhibitions
* 2022 ''From Student to Master: Tokuko Ushioda and Her Teachers,'' Alison Bradley Projects, New York
* 2021 ''Anneke Hymmen & Kumi Hiroi, Tokuko Ushioda, Mari Katayama, Maiko Haruki, Mayumi Hosokura, and Your Perspectives,'' Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo
* 2019 ''A Bright Home,'' Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima
* 2018 ''The Higashikawa Awards, Award Winning Exhibition,'' Higashikawa Bunka Gallery, Hokkaido
* 2018 ''The Photographic Society of Japan Awards, Winner’s Exhibition,'' Fujifilm Square, Tokyo
* 2018 ''A Moveable Feast,'' Xian Memories Museum, Xian, China
* 2016 ''Dislocations,'' Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
* 2015 ''The Kaji House,'' Hayama, Kanagawa
* 2012 ''Reinventing Tokyo,'' Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
* 2008 ''China/Bibliotheca/Manga,'' Lee Ka-sing Gallery, Toront, Canada
* 2004 ''Maho-chan-chi (Maho-chan’s Lovely Home),'' Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, Ibaraki
* 1995 ''Tokyo/City of Photo,'' Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
* 1989 ''6・un・expressionism,'' FROG, Tokyo
* 1982 ''China Life Report,'' Polaroid Gallery, Tokyo
* 1981 ''Jinwa Jinminkosha,'' OWL, Tokyo
References
External links
* Artist website: http://www.usimaoda.com/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokuko Ushioda
21st-century Japanese women photographers
21st-century Japanese photographers
Living people
1940 births