Emi Anrakuji
{{Short description|Japanese blind photographer}}{{Infobox artist
| name = Emi Anrakuji
| birth_date = 1963
| birth_place = Tokyo
| alma_mater = Musashino Art University
| known_for = Photography
| website = {{URL|https://www.emianrakuji.com/}}
}}
Emi Anrakuji (born 1963){{cite web|access-date=2022-02-03|title=Intimate Self-Portraits Document One Artist's Struggle With Disease|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/intimate-self-portraits-document-one-artists-struggle-with-disease_n_562fdd95e4b06317990fd99b|date=28 October 2015|website=HuffPost}} is a Tokyo-based legally blind Japanese photographer who makes self-portraits. She has produced a number of books with Nazraeli Press and her work is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2006 Anrakuji won the New Photographer Prize of the Higashikawa Prize in Higashikawa, Japan.
Early life and education
Anrakuji was born in Tokyo, Japan, where she also studied oil painting at Musashino Art University.{{Cite web |title=Emi Arakuji Biography - Emi Anrakuji official website |url=https://www.emianrakuji.com/emianrakuji-biography |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=emianrakuji |language=en}} Soon after graduation, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor that ultimately caused the loss of sight in one eye. The other eye has congenital amblyopia. While recovering in bed from the tumor, she taught herself photography.{{cite web |last1=Montrone |first1=Donatella |date=9 July 2015 |title=Emi Anrakuji – '1800 millimetres. It's the size of my bed' |url=https://www.1854.photography/2015/07/emi-anrakuji-18-millimetres-its-the-size-of-my-bed/ |access-date=2022-02-02 |website=British Journal of Photography}}{{cite magazine |title=Emi Anrakuji |url=https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/art/emi-anrakuji-2 |magazine=The New Yorker}}
Career
Anrakuji's photography subjects are consistently herself. "Anrakuji's oeuvre includes a series of photography projects in which she zooms in on her body, never revealing her face." HMMT? (How Many Miles To?) was her first photography series. A prize associated with the series brought her to the attention of Nazraeli Press, who subsequently released three of her books: Anrakuji (2006), e hagaki (2007) and IPY (2008).{{Cite magazine |date=2018-09-12 |title=Emi Anrakuji: A Passage Through Pain and Suffering |url=https://medium.com/exposure-magazine/emi-anrakuji-a-passage-through-pain-and-suffering-d294c9fcd58a |magazine=Exposure Magazine|access-date=2022-02-01}}
Her work is frequently exhibited in solo shows at Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan.{{Cite web |title=Exhibitions - Emi Anrakuji official website |url=https://www.emianrakuji.com/emianrakuji-exhibitions |access-date=2022-02-02|website=emianrakuji.com}}
Publications
=Books by Anrakuji=
- Hmmt?. Osaka: Warp, 2005. {{ISBN|4860100646}}.
- Anrakuji. Portland: Nazraeli, 2006. {{ISBN|159005167X}}.
- e hagaki. One Picture Book 40. Portland: Nazraeli, 2007. {{ISBN|159005179-3}}. Edition of 500 copies.
- IPY. Portland: Nazraeli, 2008. {{ISBN|978-1-59005-218-1}}.
- Misho. Portugal: Shinto, 2017. Edited by Rui Ribeiral and Paulo Nozolino . With an essay by Anrakuji. Edition of 250 copies.
- Balloon Position. Kyoto: Araaka Art, 2019. {{ISBN|978-4-86541-102-7}}. Edition of 500 copies.
=Books with others=
- Witness #2 (Number Two): Daido Moriyama. Portland: Nazraeli, 2007. By Daidō Moriyama, Anrakuji, and Ken Kitano. {{ISBN|1590051998}}.
Collections
Anrakuji's work is held in the following permanent collections:
Awards
- 2006: Winner, New Photographer Prize, Higashikawa Prize, Higashikawa, Hokkaido, Japan{{cite web |title=ANRAKUJI Emi – 安楽寺 えみ |url=https://photo-town.jp/collection/8471 |access-date=2022-02-03 |website=Higashikawa International Photo Festival}}
- 2019: Shortlisted, Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, for Balloon Position{{cite web|access-date=2022-02-03|title=The 2019 PhotoBook Awards Shortlist|url=https://aperture.org/editorial/2019-photobook-awards-shortlist/|date=20 September 2019|website=Aperture Foundation}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official site|https://www.emianrakuji.com}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anrakuji, Emi}}
Category:21st-century Japanese women photographers
Category:21st-century Japanese photographers