Good Wife, Wise Mother
Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Journal
English and Japanese
Afterword by Masako Ishii-Kuntz.
Hardcover
132 pages
245 x 159 mm
2020
ISBN 9789187939433
“Heaven is an American salary, a Chinese cook, and a Japanese wife.”
This view of Japanese women is a common stereotype. The Norwegian photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten decided to convey a more nuanced perspective in her debut photobook.
“When I travelled in Japan, I was excited to hear what the women were going to say about work and gender equality. I wondered how they viewed their freedom in a gender perspective. How they see the future.”
The book portrays around 100 Japanese women from different generations, environments and occupational groups.
Underlying structures in society make it hard for women to pursue both a fruitful career and family life in Japan. But the traditional and well-established Japanese gender roles seem to be at a turning point – challenged by strong progressive women. This book gives us a unique insight into the land of vast contrasts from the deeply traditional to the hyper modern, seen from these women’s perspective.
(source: https://journal-photobooks.com/products/anne-stine-johnsbraten-good-wife-wise-mother)
About the Artist
Anne-Stine Johnsbråten (b.1983) is an independent documentary photographer living in Oslo, Norway. Johnsbråten mainly works with personal projects, combining reporting with portrait work to explore topics such as gender, identity and discrimination. Several of her long-term projects have been shown in renowned galleries and festivals in Norway and abroad, such as Henie Onstad Art Center and The House of Photography in Oslo, Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism in Hannover and Cortona on the Move in Italy.
annestinefoto.no
(source: https://www.annestinefoto.no/)
About the Publisher
Journal was founded by Gösta Flemming in 1991 with the aim to publish photo books. They are based in Sweden.
journal-photobooks.com
(source: https://journal-photobooks.com/pages/about)
