Hiromix Explained

Birth Name:	Hiromi Toshikawa
Birth Place:	Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Nationality:	Japanese
Field:	photographer and artist
Works:	Girls Blue, Japanese Beauty, Hiromix

,^[1] better known as Hiromix (Hiromikkusu), is a Japanese photographer and artist.^[2]

Biography

Hiromix won the 11th New Cosmos of Photography (Shashin Shin-seiki) award in March 1995.^[3] She was nominated by Nobuyoshi Araki for a series of photographs called Seventeen Girl Days.^[4] Her photographs depicted life from a teenager's perspective.^[5] She was also a judge for the Cosmos of Photography contest from 2011 to 2015.

In 1996, Hiromix published her first book Girls Blue.^[6] She became known in the West with her book Hiromix, edited by the French photography critic Patrick Remy and published by Steidl in 1998.^[7] In 2000, she was awarded the Kimura Ihei Award for her book Hiromix Works. She has published several other photography books that are concerned with identity, community, gender and the everyday.

Alongside photographers like Yurie Nagashima and Mika Ninagawa, they were important figures in a 90s photographic movement. This movement, influenced by cultural changes, point & shoot cameras, and 'Purikura' (Print Club) culture, featured Japanese teenagers, especially girls, creating a new visual style. ^[8]

As a former member of the Japanese band The Clovers, Hiromix also released a music album and continues to work as a DJ. She briefly appeared in a TV commercial for an Yves Saint Laurent fragrance called Jazz.^[9] The German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans photographed her in 1997.^[10] She also has a cameo appearance in the 2003 film Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola.^[11] She photographed for fashion brand Kenzo's pre-fall collection in 2016.^[12]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• Start of Spring, Radiance of the Heart, Hiromi Yoshii Gallery, Tokyo (2009)
• St. Valentin Special | Room of Love, Eye of Gyre, Tokyo (2010)
• The Wonder of Love and Time, Hidari Zingaro, Tokyo (2015)

Group exhibitions

• Superflat Exhibition, Tokyo (1999)
• Gazes that Define the Era: 30 Years of the Kimura Ihei Award 1975–2005, Kawasaki City Museum, Tokyo (2005)
• Shoot (Rizzoli, U.S.), Parco Gallery, Tokyo (2009)
• A Room in Which To Contemplate Love, No Man's Land, Tokyo (2009)
• 40 Years of the Kimura Ihei Award, 1975–2015, Kawasaki Museum, Tokyo (2015)
• Takashi Murakami Collection, Tokyo and other cities (2016)

Books

• Girl's Blue (1996)
• Japanese Beauty (1997)
• Hikari (1997)
• Hiromix Paris (1998)
• Hiromix (1998)

External links

• Ono, Philbert. "Hiromix". Profile at PhotoGuide Japan.
• Romano, Gianni. "Hiromix". PhotoArts Journal.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hiromix: the last book . 2022-12-08 . www.photoarts.com.
2. News: Kaori. Shoji. 16 April 2020. Young Women Behind the Camera Craze in Tokyo. The New York Times. 16 January 1999. 0362-4331.
3. https://global.canon/ja/news/2012/p2012sep05j.html Canon page.
4. Web site: Hiromix 'Seventeen Girl Days' 1995 Grand Prize winning work Canon New Cosmos of Photography. Inc.. Canon. Canon Global. 4 April 2018.
5. Bornoff, Nicholas (1999). "Figures in the Landscape." In: Brittain, David (ed.), Creative camera: thirty years of writing, Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 272.
6. Web site: Real People: Interview – Hiromix: Portrait of the artist as a little. . 31 January 1999. 2 September 2017.
7. Remy, Patrick (1998). Hiromix. Göttingen: Steidl.
8. Web site: Hiromix: Shaping the Identity of 90s Japanese Female Youth . Sabukaru Online . 14 December 2021 . 15 June 2024.
9. Web site: YSL Jazz Live – 1990's UK Advert. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/9Y-_N41OC_U . 2021-12-21 . live. DrDejvu. 8 February 2008. 2 September 2017. YouTube.
10. Tillmans, Wolfgang (2003). If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters, London: Tate Publishing, p. 142.
11. https://black-harpoon.medium.com/lost-in-translation-filming-locations-daikanyama-air-and-nakameguro-453f56f37c7f
12. Web site: Kenzo Clothing Men, Women & Kids collections. www.kenzo.com. 4 April 2018.