Miyako Ishiuchi - Scars - 2005

Shrinkwrapped copy, as new.

"Scars" by Miyako Ishiuchi is a profound photographic collection that documents the physical markings left on the human body due to accidents, illnesses, suicide attempts, and war. Created over a 13-year period starting in the early 1990s, the book marks a major transition in Ishiuchi’s career from shooting urban landscapes to capturing the intimate, close-up textures of human skin.

Unlike traditional medical photography, Ishiuchi views scars not as disfigurements, but as "battle wounds and symbols of victory". They represent survival and the strength required to overcome life's adversities.

Ishiuchi describes scars as a highly private realm, akin to personal secrets that are typically hidden away from public view.

She treats skin as a physical canvas where personal and collective history is permanently etched. She frequently compares photographs to scars, as both serve as visible markers of the past and triggers for memory.

The book features large-scale, high-contrast monochrome prints. It utilizes intense close-ups that focus on skin textures, the unevenness of flesh, and the subtle shadows created by sutures.

The photos mask the full identity of the subjects to protect their anonymity while capturing the unique individuality of their wounds.

Each photograph is presented without an elaborate narrative. Instead, Ishiuchi only provides the year the trauma occurred and the underlying cause (e.g., "Accident 1976" or "Scald 1960"

This series laid the thematic foundation for Ishiuchi’s later internationally acclaimed projects. The exact same approach of looking at the "intimate residue of history" on surfaces led directly to her later books like "Mother's" (photographing her deceased mother's personal items) and "Hiroshima" (photographing the clothing worn by atomic bomb victims).