MIKIKO HARA

It happened to me several times in the recent months that I was told that her photographs look like the work of Rinko Kawauchi. I think that this is a misunderstanding. While both photographers work in color, use midsize cameras for square images and do a lot of shots in the streets, Mikiko Hara’s approach is different to Rinko Kawauchi. Rinko Kawauchi’s work is first of all a poetic appreciation of life (which does not exclude to talk about death), with images which range from straight documentary photographs (see her book “Cui Cui”) to fragile, almost dreamlike images with delicate colors (see her book “Utatane”). Mikiko Hara’s photography is poetic as well, but she has a different topic. She talks about distance and isolation of people in public spaces – especially of women.
Ferdinand Brueggemann