The akha bride by Kimiko Yoshida (2003)

The series of self-portraits that have been Kimiko Yoshida's signature since 2001 follow a constant conceptual protocol: always the same subject, the same framing, the same lighting, the same principle of monochrome where the photographer's face tends to disappear. Painting, make-up and direct shooting: here no digital retouching, no Photoshop. These are timeless and "abstract" portraits, i.e. devoid of anecdote, narrative and story.

Subtle and paradoxical, Kimiko Yoshida’s Bachelor Brides form a spectral ensemble of quasi-monochromatic self-portraits—each a luminous square (120x120cm) that weaves into a larger, intimate web. These large-format images unfold a singular narrative: an epic, fantasy-inflected exploration of the feminine condition in Japan.

Kimiko works mostly in Kyoto, where she creates double images by using the traditional technique of lacquer and gold powder applied to her self-portraits printed with pure pigment on canvas. Photography thus opens up to something beyond the limits of photography itself and allows us to glimpse an otherness that goes beyond the very object of representation.