A unique research tool designed specifically for Behind the Camera (カメラの後ろで), this interactive timeline makes information related to Japanese women photographers visible and legible across different historical registers. By working vertically, users can select a name on the timeline to unveil a brief biography and chronological record of an individual’s contributions to the world of photography. Working horizontally, users can track the lifespan and career of individual figures in relation to major events in Japanese history and the global history of photography. Compiled from a variety of archives, exhibition catalogues, and online resources, each individual photographer’s timeline concludes with a selected bibliography to inspire further research.
Furthermore, when there is a module on the primary Behind the Camera website that addresses a specific photographer’s work, their timeline links to the related resources. Exploring the timeline, users will note the lack of data on women working in the 19th century in contrast with an abundance of information for those working in the mid-1990s onward when women became professional photographers in increasing numbers. Thus, the timeline only includes photographers who were active before the year 2000 with the understanding that contemporary women photographers, while still facing prejudices in the field, are able to maintain a greater degree of representation in the digital realm than their historical counterparts. This timeline will continue to grow as more information on Japanese women in the history of photography is uncovered.
Type in the field below to search across the content of photographers’ biographies, birth region, and death region by free text.
Click the buttons below to filter events by category