Ume Kayo and vernacular photography

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2009, Jun 01
Ume Kayo and vernacular photography

There has been interesting discussion lately about the place of “vernacular” photography, and its position (or lack of it) in the “fine art” world.

Ume Kayo fits in here, as a young photographer with a style that I think would be at home on Flickr. She’s had real success in Japan, though: in 2006, she won the Ihei Kimura Award, which recognizes a young photographer and effectively launches their career. Her first book, “Ume-me,” has since gone on to sell over 110,000 copies, and as of today is still given pride of place on publisher Little More’s site.

Here are some samples from “Ume-me.” This kind of work is what’s at stake, no?

all © Ume Kayo

Is Ume Kayo already known in the US? I have no idea.

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Kayo Ume

“This kind of work is what’s at stake, no? “

Can you clarify this statement? What work in particular?

Ume Kayo’s ability to anticipate a situtation and frame it so perfectly as a photo is a skill just as important as those guys on the other site jabbering away about Serious Work being Conceptual and Deep.

Posted by John / June 4, 2009 at 1:21 am:

I should have set my question better:

What is at stake?

Ume Kayo represents that Japanese Photographic method where living and photographing has little distinction. Or at least make it look like such.

Posted by garry / June 4, 2009 at 4:51 am:

trends come and go. nothing is at stake.

Posted by Dan / June 4, 2009 at 6:26 am:

I think this post could use some clarity.

First let’s get “vernacular” photography out of the way. I am using that as a kind of shorthand for what Blake Andrews calls “the photography-integrated-into-life method.” This is what started the whole discussion in the first place. It’s also exactly what John describes. (Blake’s post is here, it’s a good read: http://blakeandrews.blogspot.com/2009/05/observation.html )

As for what is “at stake,” I wanted to show that Ume Kayo’s photographs are relevant to the broader discussion about work that might be unfairly ignored by ‘serious’ ‘contemporary’ ‘art people.’ Her work is similar in spirit to the photographs that were being talked about, and she is notable in that she’s had a very positive response from the Japanese mainstream—a response which I think is totally deserved by the way. I don’t want to be too dramatic about this. But hey, if you’re trying to eat from your photography, then there’s definitely something “at stake” for you.

Garry is probably right, although again, if I were trying to eat off of my work, I wouldn’t sit back and hope the trends swing my way. Eggleston is also relevant here, as an American exponent of this method, but even he isn’t a great beacon of hope. In the first place, he’s not of this generation, and also he had a rough time of things at first. (I wish I knew about Friedlander’s initial reception, if anyone knows please enlighten me.)

The thing on the table is that a bunch of new photographers feel like they are being ignored. It’s worth paying attention to that kind of discussion. Is there an American Ume Kayo with the recognition to match? Patrick Tsai might be the closest, but still I don’t know how far he’s broken beyond the internet. And so we wait!

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