F O T O S E P T I E M B R E USA S A F O T O MAMI KIYOSHI New Reading Portraits
MAMI KIYOSHI Mami Kiyoshi was born in 1974, in Saitama, Japan. She is an artist and photographer, and currently lives and works in Paris. She has a degree from the Musashino Art University of Tokyo, in Japan, and has presented numerous exhibitions of her work in Japan, China and Europe. In 2010, Mami was awarded a grant from the Japanese government to pursue her New Reading Portraits series in France. While in France, she won a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, in Paris. She also received the 2011 Arte/L Art et la Ville Award, and a Special Jury Award from the Photographie.com 2012 Bourse du Talent; both in France. Her works are in the collections of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Japan; Le Musée de la Ville de St Quentin en Yvelines, and the Bibliothèque Nationale, in France. New Reading Portraits : Curated by Michael Mehl I began my New Reading Portraits series in 2003. Even though the set of portraits in this monograph reflect select aspects of present-day Japanese society, I have been creating portrait series in Europe and China, and am planning on including portraits from other countries as well. I am interested in personal histories: myths, stories, anecdotes. Photography allows me to create my own narratives of the people I meet. By illustrating their personalities and their environments, I try to make these portraits like stories of the Buddhas, of primitive gods or heroes. I photograph a variety of people who respond to my ads on the internet, posters, etc. I photograph them at home or at work. First I get to know my subjects and try to discover insights from their personal histories, passions, likes and dislikes, their dreams. I then begin to compose the portraits. I try to tell a story using personal objects, which I place and arrange in each picture. I enhance every portrait with my sensitivity and my imagination, which adds a fabled tone to each person s story. The result is that the private story becomes a public narrative, which then becomes a myth of modern life. Mami Kiyoshi kiyoshimami@gmail.com www.kiyoshimami.com
Mr. and Mrs. Ochiai - Ibaraki, Japan, 2005 1
Mr. and Mrs. Genba - Tokyo, Japan, 2004 2
The Honda Family - Tokyo, Japan, 2007 3
Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi - Tokyo, Japan, 2010 4
Mr. and Mrs. Kuwahara - Tokyo, Japan, 2005 5
Mr. and Mrs. Noguchi - Niigata, Japan, 2004 6
Mr. and Mrs. Iwamae - Kyoto, Japan, 2007 7
Mr. Hasegawa - Tokyo, Japan, 2003 8
Mr. Akagawa - Tokyo, Japan, 2004 9
Mr. Sumioka - Tokyo, Japan, 2004 10
Mr. Kadowaki - Kanagawa, Japan, 2010 11
Maya - Tochigi, Japan, 2004 12
Mrs. Fujita - Tokyo, Japan, 2004 13
Ms Kaneko - Saitama, Japan, 2008 14
Yamato - Tokyo, Japan, 2007 15
The Kozawa Family - Tokyo, Japan, 2006 16
The Maeda Family - Tokyo, Japan, 2009 17
The Kibo Family - Saitama, Japan, 2010 18
The Oshika Family - Tokyo, Japan, 2005 19
Mr. Saitoh - Tokyo, Japan, 2007 20
Mr. Nakamura - Tokyo, Japan, 2004 21
Mr. Igahara - Tokyo, Japan, 2004 22
Mr. Takagi - Saitama, Japan, 2006 23
Mr. Chiba - Kanagawa, Japan, 2008 24
Mrs. Nishikawa and Her Daughter - Saitama, Japan, 2003 25