Cry Minami is an artistic work by Katja Stuke consisting of several different parts. Stuke takes Minami‘s publicly expressed remorse as an opportunity typical of her work – to ask questions about the authenticity and staging of images.
»Some years ago Minami Minegishi, a singer of Japanese Idol-Band AKB48 got a some international media attention: she appeared on Japanese TV, crying with shaved hair — apologizing that she had a sexual affair with a young man. That seems to be agains her contract with the management of the group. The first image that came up in my mind was the image of shaved women in Europe after the second world war: women who had an affair with Geman soldiers where publicly punished this way. So even today shaving women’s hair seems to be an symbol of humiliation and power — and is used like this all over the world.
Another question that came up: was this her own idea or was ist just another marketing strategy? These questions let me use Minami‘s image as part of »Mechanical Brides«, a series I started in 2011 dealing with the image of women in media an advertising.« more »»
Katja Stuke, Cry Minami
3 Photo-Zines, 2016/2018
29,7 × 21 cm