is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist working predominantly in the genres self-portraiture, portraiture

Portraiture

Portraiture may refer to:* The creation of any portrait, an artistic representation of a person, including** Portrait painting.** Portrait photography.** Self Portait. MS...

, street photography

Street photography

Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings....

 and still life

Still life

A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...

. In 2000, Nagashima was awarded the prestigious Kimura Ihei Award

Kimura Ihei Award

The is a Japanese photographic award that attracts the attention of the mass media and book-buyers.The award has been given every year since 1975 by the Asahi Shimbun Company, publisher of Asahi Shimbun and the magazine Asahi Camera, in honor of the photographer Ihei Kimura...

. Nagashima is a photography tutor at Musashino Art University

Musashino Art University

is a university in Kodaira, western Tokyo founded in 1962 and has roots going back to 1929.Teikoku Art School was founded in 1929; in 1948 it became Musashino Art School , and in 1962 it became Musashino Art University...

 in Tokyo.

Biography

Yurie Nagashima rose to national fame in Japan after receiving the second annual Urbanart award hosted by the Parco Gallery in Tokyo in 1993 for a series of photographs depicting herself and her family in the nude. Nagashima was nominated for the award by Nobuyoshi Araki

Nobuyoshi Araki

is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist. He is also known by the nickname .-Life and career:Araki was born in Tokyo, studied photography during his college years and then went to work at the advertising agency Dentsu, where he met his future wife, the essayist Yōko Araki...

, one of Japan's best known photographers. At the time, Nagashima was still a student at Musashino Art University

Musashino Art University

is a university in Kodaira, western Tokyo founded in 1962 and has roots going back to 1929.Teikoku Art School was founded in 1929; in 1948 it became Musashino Art School , and in 1962 it became Musashino Art University...

 in Tokyo from where she graduated in 1995 with a BA in visual communication design. In 1995, Nagashima had a two-person exhibition with the American photographer Catherine Opie

Catherine Opie

Catherine Opie is an American artist specializing in issues within documentary photography. Throughout her work she has investigated aspects of community, making portraits of many groups including LGBT community; surfers; and most recently high school football players. She is also interested in...

 at the Parco Gallery, Tokyo. Following this encounter with Opie, Nagashima embarked on a MFA at the California Institute of the Arts

California Institute of the Arts

The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...

 under her tutelage.

Nagashima has published numerous important photography monographs that deal with the family, gender, identity and sexuality. In the West, Nagashima has been compared to American photographer Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin

Nancy "Nan" Goldin is an American photographer.-Life and work:Goldin was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts suburb of Lexington, to middle class Jewish parents whose ideas, moderately liberal and progressive, were put to the test when on April 12, 1965 their eldest...

. In at times provocative photographs, Nagashima has tested public perceptions on obscenity and censorship in Japan

Censorship in Japan

In Japan, Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and prohibits formal censorship. What censorship does exist is often carried out through Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan...

. Nagashima is represented by the gallery SCAI the Bathhouse in Tokyo, where she had numerous solo and group exhibitions. In addition to her work as a photographer and photography tutor, Nagashima has published (as Senaka no kioku, meaning "Memories of a back") a series of biographical stories from her childhood in 2009.

Books

• Nagashima Yurie Photobook, Fuga, Tokyo, 1995. ISBN 4894240599.
• Empty White Room , Little More, Tokyo, 1995. ISBN 4947648171.
• Kazoku / A Family, Korinsha Press, Kyoto, 1998. ISBN 4771303347.
• Pastime Paradise, Madra, Tokyo, 2000. ISBN 4-944079-23-0.
• not six, Switch, Tokyo, 2004. ISBN 4884180143.
• Senaka no Kioku , Kodansha, Tokyo, 2009. ISBN 978-4-06-215896-1.
• Swiss, Akaaka, Tokyo, 2010. ISBN 4903545598.