Tokuko Ushioda - My Husband

Tokuko Ushioda
My Husband (2 volumes)

Published by Torch Press in 2022
Book size 24x19cm
Book 1: 122 pages, hardcover
Book 2: 76 pages, softcover
Language Japanese, English

The happy days spent with her husband, Shinzo Shimao, and daughter, Maho, in a single room of a Western-style house, and the loneliness she faced in the quiet night. Dormant for 40 years, the story of these photographs is finally revealed. A set of two books, Book 1 and Book 2, present the 6x6 and 35mm photographs, respectively.

In early 1979, shortly after the birth of their child Maho, the three of them moved into a historic Western-style house where Yukio Ozaki, known as the "God of Constitutional Politics," had transferred his old home. It was a simple, box-like room on the second floor, with a shared toilet and no bathroom; at first, there wasn't even a refrigerator. As soon as she became a newlywed with a child, Ushioda's days began to fill. Her husband, Shimao, is a very unique artist and family member, and he continued to take photographs in the limited space he shared with Ushioda. Perhaps because it was a record of life with such a partner, she was able to maintain a meticulous balance, neither nostalgic nor cynical, depicting the human drama hidden behind the objects.

This book comprises photographs taken in the five years following Maho's birth in 1978. Book 1 features the 6x6 square format, synonymous with Ushioda, and is paired with Book 2's 35mm snapshots, creating a treasured photobook that will be remembered as the starting point of his photography.