[04/10/2017]
Red Flower, The Women of Okinawa is the first monograph to be published in the United States by cult-favorite photographer Mao Ishikawa. The book is comprised of images — some of which have never before been published — from the late-’70s, during the US military occupation of Okinawa. After a brief time at school in Japan, Mao dropped out to return home and picked up a job at a GI bar in the black entertainment district of Koza. As Mao exclaims of the time: “What’s wrong with loving a black man! What’s wrong with working at a black bar! What’s wrong with celebrating our freedom! What’s wrong with enjoying sex! I liked these bar girls who lived open and free in narrow, cramped Okinawa. I had never cared much about what others thought of me but their ethos of ‘let’s live free, do what we want, and trust ourselves’ made me care even less.” Over the course of two years, she documented every aspect of her life with her girlfriends and their GI boyfriends as they led fearless lifestyles during a tumultuous era. The book, published by Session Press, is now available to purchase at Dashwood Books in New York City.
Text and Photo Paige Silveria
Hawkesworth Jamie
Tomoo Gokita “PEEKABOO” exhibition opening and after party at Tokyo Opera City...
Slutever
Sex Fashion
Balenciaga
Nigora in Los Angeles
See Yasmine Eslami’s new S/S 2018 swimwear campaign
BIRKENSTOCK BOX x Rick Owens Launch Party at Rick Owens, Los Angeles
Sofie in the Dutch fields
Giovanni Di Stefano in Cuba
Jenna Gribbon’s “Rainbows in Shadows” solo exhibition at MASSIMODECARLO in Milan
Purple presents “Echo Bloom”, a new fashion film directed by Kasumi Hiraoka...
William Eggleston
This June, our dear friend Aaron Chango is hosting a NYC pop up...
“Harley Weir: The Garden” show opens today at Hannah Barry Gallery in...
Donna Trope’s “Polaroids” exhibition, opens today at Galerie Carole Lambert, Paris
Latest Meret Oppenheim retrospective exhibition opens at Hauser & Wirth, Basel
Nobuyoshi Araki’s “May 25th, Showa 15 Year” show currently on view at...
© Purple Institute