Image: The Photographers' Gallery, An Un.titled Site
The Photographers' Gallery in London has opened 'Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now', a major exhibition bringing together more than 200 works by 27 Japanese women photographers working from the 1950s to the present. The show runs from 24 June to 27 September 2026 and presents photography, video, installations and rare photobooks, with the gallery describing it as a reframing of Japanese photographic history through women’s perspectives.
According to the exhibition information, the project aims to challenge a history too often told through a single, male-dominated lens. It places internationally recognised artists alongside others who have long been overlooked, and it spans subjects including identity, pop culture, fashion and everyday life. The exhibition is presented as a broad survey rather than a single-school or single-generation account, with works grouped across the post-war era and the decades that followed.
The featured artists listed by the gallery are HARA Mikiko, HIROMIX, ISHIKAWA Mao, ISHIUCHI Miyako, KATAYAMA Mari, KAWAUCHI Rinko, KOMATSU Hiroko, KON Michiko, NAGASHIMA Yurie, NARAHASHI Asako, NINAGAWA Mika, NISHIMURA Tamiko, NOGUCHI Rika, NOMURA Sakiko, OKABE Momo, OKANOUE Toshiko, ONODERA Yuki, SAWADA Tomoko, SHIGA Lieko, SUGIURA Kunié, TAWADA Yuki, TOKIWA Toyoko, YONEDA Tomoko, USHIODA Tokuko, WATANABE Hitomi, YAMAZAWA Eiko and YANAGI Miwa. The gallery notes that the artists are listed surname first.
The exhibition also includes a specially produced timeline with five moments charting key cultural, political and social developments in Japan. The gallery says this historical framework is intended to run alongside the photography, helping situate the works within the broader contexts in which they were made and received. A reading room tied to the project is also mentioned in the exhibition information.
Curatorial credit for 'Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now' goes to Lesley A. Martin, Takeuchi Mariko and Pauline Vermare. The London presentation includes additional curatorial collaboration from Taous Dahmani of The Photographers' Gallery. The exhibition is connected to the publication 'I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers 1950s to Now' (Aperture, 2024).
The gallery says the exhibition is organised by Aperture in collaboration with the Rencontres d’Arles, with support from Kering | Women In Motion, Ishibashi Foundation, Anne Levy Charitable Trust, the 1970 Japan World’s Exposition Memorial Fund, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, OKAN and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. The Japanese Women Photographers' Reading Room is supported by Ellen Yiwei Wang.
Alongside the exhibition, The Photographers' Gallery’s Soho Photography Quarter is also showing 'NINAGAWA Mika: Captive Blooms', a free outdoor presentation running from 19 June 2026 to 1 June 2027 just outside the gallery on Ramillies Street. The gallery describes that project as displaying works from Ninagawa’s 'Captive Blooms' series in the public realm, while noting that her photographs are also represented in 'Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now' during the summer run at the gallery.
