Hiromix - Hiromix - 1998

[Intro:]

"Youth reflects transparency and beauty.
Despite our lack of experience. The world often confronts us with unforgivable situations.
We believe. More than anyone. In things that cannot be seen.
Many unknown worlds are awaiting us.
Surrounded by people and things we love.
We smile carefree smiles.
It was perhaps because I wanted to keep a record of this. That I take photos of myself.

1998-7-15 HIROMIX"

Hiromix (born Hiromi Toshikawa in Tokyo in 1976) is an influential Japanese photographer and artist who revolutionized Japanese photography in the 1990s. She rose to prominence as a teenager, spearheading the booming trend of "girly photography" (Onnano ko Shashin) and defining the candid, intimate snapshot style of youth culture.

In 1995, at the age of just 19, she won Canon's prestigious New Cosmos of Photography Award for her photo series "Seventeen Girl Days." She was nominated by none other than the world-renowned photographer Nobuyoshi Araki.

Her style is considered a precursor to modern social media aesthetics (such as Instagram feeds). Characteristics of her work include: diary-like quality: unfiltered, intimate snapshots of the everyday lives of young people in Tokyo. Raw self-portraits that redefined the female gaze, moving beyond traditional conventions.

Close connection to the Harajuku fashion scene, music magazines, and 1990s youth culture. Hiromix made the medium of photography accessible to everyone. Camera companies even adapted their technology to optimize simple point-and-shoot cameras for teenagers due to the boom. She inspired, among other things, the visual identity of Sofia Coppola's film 'Lost in Translation', in which she also makes two cameo appearances. Today, her work is a staple in Japanese art textbooks.

“Hiromix” (published in 1998 by the German publisher Steidl) is the second of her notable photography books.

Size: 23.5x17.3cm
Date: October 1998 (First edition)
Publisher: Steidl
Condition: Very good