Tag Archives: Pride month

Photo of the Week: KAWAMOTO Eriko and MASAKI Motoko

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Laurie says:

This a photo from Women Of Japan that I thought was very right for Pride Month.
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MASAKI Motoko (Counselor, Gender Sexuality Crisis Center, Osaka)

We were introduced to Laurie by Hagiwara Hiroko.

Laurie visited our home town, Mino city, Osaka, in September 2007. We first walked along the Takimichi, path running parallel to a mountain stream, looking for a location for shooting. We crossed the first bridge to see several old inns along a gentle slope. We decided to settle down in a place close to the rock, which is mythically called ‘Tojin Modori Iwa’ (rock a stranger cannot pass), so as to spend half a day on the dry rocky riverside surrounded by moss-covered trees. While Laurie’s shooting session went on, we ate a picnic snack Hagiwara had prepared.

Ten months have passed since then. Now you see decorative bamboo branches with ornaments for the Star Festival fluttering and rustling under the eaves of a local restaurant in a July breeze. A nightingale’s warble echoed around in the green forest and over the clear-blue water. Being photographed in a location close to the place I have lived with my friend for long, I felt myself very much encouraged. We are proud of our relationship as a lesbian couple who have made life together and loved each other.

I have had different agonies and sorrows while I have had moments of delights and pleasures. Now everything in the past seems to be merged into the beautiful notes from a music box. I look happier in Laurie’s photograph than I have ever been before.

KAWAMOTO Eriko (Counselor, Gender Sexuality Crisis Center, Osaka)

When I fell in love with a woman in my student’s days, I felt desperate thinking that I would never be able to have a family. I knew I could not stand being alone and living by myself. The idea that I should not be lesbian was so strong in my mind. I met a man, got married, and gave birth to a daughter. When I got used to child bearing and had time to reflect on myself, I had to face the uncontrollable emotion that I was lesbian before everything.

After the divorce, I met her at a feminist course where I was one of the organizers. I fell in love with her while discussing all sorts of things and began to realize that I would really like to live with her. I dreamed that we purchased a mirror together. We have got along for sixteen years now, laughing, quarrelling and living together in a very vivacious way.

When I was asked to be a model for Laurie, I thought I would really like to be part of the project. I posed for Laurie so as to make a visual image showing that a lesbian couple live and enjoy their own life here in Japan.

-translations by Hagiwara Hiroko

川本恵理子     (ジェンダー・セクシャリティー クライシスセンター、カウンセラー)
大学時代、女性に恋したとき私は「家族をもてないのか」と絶望的になった。寂しがり屋の私にはひとりで生活していくことは考えられなかった。その 後、「レズビアンであってはいけない」という自分の中の差別感と、出会いで、男性と結婚、娘を出産した。育児の忙しさが少し落ち着いたとき、「私はレズビ アンでしかない」という思いがマグマのように吹き出て、それを押さえ込むことができなかった。離婚後、私も企画に参加したフェミニズムの講座で彼女と出 会った。いろんな話をする中で彼女に惚れ、一緒に人生を歩きたいと思った。彼女と一緒に生活していこうと思ったとき、二人で鏡を買う夢を見た。今16年目 をすごしている。よくけんかもするが、よく話し笑いもする。伸びやかに生活していると思う。
今回このお話をいただいたとき、「日本にもレズビアンカップルが生活している」ということを残しておきたいと思い撮影していただいた。
正木基子   (ジェンダー・セクシャリティー クライシスセンター、カウンセラー)
写真の二人は、萩原弘子さんが、ローリーさんに紹介してくださったことで、撮影していただくことになったものです。
2007年9月12日大阪箕面に来ていただいて、滝道をそぞろ行きました。一の橋を渡って古い宿坊などの立ち並ぶ、ゆるやかな川沿いです。唐人戻岩のあたりの、美しい苔むした木々のある一角で半日を過ごしました。萩原さんの手づくりのお弁当も、開かれていました。
あれから10カ月の月日が流れ、滝道に七夕の笹かざりが、紅葉の天ぷら屋さんの軒下で揺れています。うぐいすの鳴き声が、緑の木々、青の光に満ち た清流にこだましております。私は、日本のレズビアンとして、二人が愛し合い、暮らしを紡ぎあげたことを誇りに思っています。このような形で残していただ けたことで、勇気を頂いたと感じます。
私にも、様々な苦しみ悲しみ、そして大きな喜びや笑いがこれまで起こってきました。それさえ、メモリアルオルゴールの音のように流れ「今が一番幸せ」と、私の写真は語ってくれている様です

Laurie’s Work Featured in the Huffington Post: 30 LGBT Artists You Should Know

Laurie says:

I was delighted to be invited to participate in the Huffington Post’s 30 LGBT Artists You Should Know. Now that the piece is up, I’m honored to be in the company they chose. The works include Frida Kahlo, David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, Hannah Höch, Rotimi Fani-Kayode and 25 other artists. It’s really worth watching the whole show.

LGBT artists have continually challenged mainstream understandings of gender and sexuality, and the impact of this on our society is immeasurable. Like artists of the 1980s who worked tirelessly to bring attention to HIV/AIDS in America, artists today maintain their roles as leading figures striving for change and cultural awareness.

As Pride Month comes to a close, we would like to showcase a number of LGBT artists who have influenced the progress of art and society throughout the past hundred years or so. While this list is in no way comprehensive, we hope to highlight some of the many creative individuals who as members of the LGBT community have put their unique stamp on art history.

Check out the list below of amazing LGBT artists who have irrevocably changed the art world and beyond with their work…

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This is the image from my book Familiar Men that I chose when they asked me to participate.