Seasoned in the art of nomadism, Fumiko Imano spent her early childhood in Rio de Janeiro before her family moved back to a small town in Japan. She went on to study art and fashion photography at Central Saint Martin’s and since then has been living between London, Paris and Hitachi.
With two self published titles and a series of exhibitions to her name, she has been gathering a devoted following for her cute and seemingly candid photographic self-portraits, which tie in with all sorts of issues about identity and self image.
Her lo-fi photocollaged ‘twin self portraits’, in particular, continue an ongoing practice amongst female artists who have given representations of split or mirrored selves over the last century.
From Claude Cahun of 1920s Paris, 1960s Yayoi Kusama, Cindy Sherman of the 1990s, Julie Rrap of contemporary Australia or countless other examples, self portraiture has been a particularly important point from which to explore issues of female identity and body politics – and fragmentary or multiple self images have been recurring in this tradition.
I caught up with Fumiko to ask her about the desire to self-duplicate, the nature of photography, the relationships between fashion and art, and how she came to be her own favourite subject …
You have moved around a lot throughout your life, how has that effected your outlook?
I used to live in the memory of past when I was a kid. I just couldn’t forget Rio de Janeiro ‘cause I didn’t like Japan. I think I have huge tendency for missing past life, and that might explain why I was drawn to photography.
Do you identify with being Japanese?
I feel very Japanese if I go to abroad. Probably everybody has that national aspect even when you don’t notice it. Especially with food, I love Japanese green tea, rice and salty food. My body needs them.
Do female artists in Japan have particular difficulties?
Yes. But I guess it’s more hard to be a male artist in Japan ‘cause Japanese men have a huge complex about being male. It is hard to survive self sufficiently … it would be lovely to have a partner or patron for support like Ms. Coco Chanel had.
Your recently put out your second book I Hate Photography [available through Art Tower Mito and NADIFF], was it important for it to be another self-published venture?
I just haven’t met any good publishers interested in my work. So, what do you do? You have to publish yourself, innit? It’s a DIY spirit. With the more recent one I didn’t have any budget so I used b&w photo copy machine to complete the mission. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t about quality but more about realization. Maybe a statement to people saying “I’m here!”
Do you hate photography?
I used to love photography so much; I was always taking my reflex camera with me, developing in the dark room, dreaming about romanticism in photography too much. I was totally addicted. While studying fashion photography, I had to question ideas about photography and subject, and since that time, I started to hate it. I especially hate to be called “photographer” ‘cause it is so limited, and somehow people imagine all this professional and technical stuff, expensive camera, lighting system, studio, you know? I don’t believe in “photographer” with only technique and expensive camera and fame. I prefer being an artist without heavy guns, so I can do anything!
Are there other artists who have influenced you?
I used to like Juergen Teller, Terry Richardson, and Homma Takashi. I like very flat and simple photography. The most influential photos are my family album photos taken by my parents during their stay in Brazil in the 80’s with a Konica camera, and printed by Kodak: very strong yellow, green red.
What do you think the relationship between fashion and art is?
Both seem unnecessary, but somehow we need them. Sometimes there is no boundary in between, if I’m nude in photo posing, is it art? If I’m wearing clothes posing, is it fashion?
How did you come to be your own favorite subject?
Once upon a time in Amsterdam, I went to a gallery with my student portfolio. The gallery assistant said, “The strongest thing in your portfolio is your self-portrait. You should keep taking photos of your self!” It was a surprise ’cause I only had one self-portrait, but I started taking pictures as a 24 hour model, stylist and photographer. It was suitable for me as I wasn’t good at asking people to collaborate, and I wanted to posses my work completely.
Would the world be a better place with two Fumikos?
Yeah, it looks cheerful two together. It’s such a shame it could only happen in photo or video, not in real life.
i love these photos she is so cute!
Comment by Caro — November 2, 2009 @ 6:41 amI agree, I love both of her!
Comment by AJ — November 3, 2009 @ 2:05 amONE IS NEVER ENOUGH! Love the collages, beautiful and romantic. LOVE
Comment by sean+seng — November 3, 2009 @ 11:48 am[...] This article originally appeared on Big in Japan. [...]
Pingback by thegraffik | Design and Illustration » Blog Archive » Fumiko’s Double Vision — February 3, 2010 @ 9:11 amI like your site! This is my page
Comment by bloneldelay — April 28, 2010 @ 12:47 am