Reclaiming the Frame: East Asian Women Photographers Against U.S. Hegemony
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
8-3-2025 3:00 AM
Description
Dr. Jeehey Kim, Assistant Professor, University of Arizona, U.S.A.
Reclaiming the Frame: East Asian Women Photographers Against U.S. Hegemony
While the U.S. hegemony brought its prominent women photographers, such as Margaret Bourke-White and Dorothea Lange, to Korea and Japan to document the region, local women photographers have provided a different perspective, focusing on how global politics directly affected the lives of women in East Asia. This paper explores how Korean and Japanese women photographers address the complex impact of the U.S. military presence in the region, offering a deeply personal and often critical view of the aftermath of war and occupation.
Mee-sook Jeon (Korean, 1965– ) began her photographic work by documenting landscapes altered by the American military presence in Korea. Her images capture the environmental and social transformations caused by foreign occupation, revealing the profound influence of geopolitical forces on local spaces. In contrast, Sanghee Song (Korean, 1970– ) focuses on the lives of military sex workers, using their experiences as a symbol of Korea's subjugation under U.S. hegemony during the Cold War. Song's work is a poignant commentary on how women’s bodies have been sites of exploitation and power struggles.
In Japan, Miyako Ishiuchi (Japanese, 1947– ) reflects on her childhood growing up in a camptown during the U.S. occupation (1945–1953). Her photography offers a deeply personal narrative of post-war Japan, exploring the scars left on both people and places. Similarly, Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa (Japanese, 1953– ) traces the long history of U.S. military bases on the island, documenting the intimate relationships between local women and African-American GIs since the 1970s. Through her lens, Ishikawa provides a raw and complex portrayal of the intersection between race, power, and occupation in Okinawa.
Together, these women photographers challenge dominant narratives and expose the lasting effects of U.S. hegemony on the lives of East Asian women, offering a powerful visual critique of global politics.
Jeehey Kim is an Assistant Professor in the art history program at the School of Art, University of Arizona. She earned a PhD in Art History at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She has been publishing on Korean photography, including her first book Photography and Korea. She has been writing on vernacular photographic practices and on documentary films and visual culture in relation to the Cold War and gender politics in East Asia. At the University of Arizona, she launched a series of symposia on Asian photography with the Center for Creative Photography in the Spring of 2022. She is currently working on her second book project on funerary use of portrait photography in East Asia.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Kim, Jeehey, "Reclaiming the Frame: East Asian Women Photographers Against U.S. Hegemony" (2025). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day 2025. 10.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2025/schedule/10
Reclaiming the Frame: East Asian Women Photographers Against U.S. Hegemony
Dr. Jeehey Kim, Assistant Professor, University of Arizona, U.S.A.
Reclaiming the Frame: East Asian Women Photographers Against U.S. Hegemony
While the U.S. hegemony brought its prominent women photographers, such as Margaret Bourke-White and Dorothea Lange, to Korea and Japan to document the region, local women photographers have provided a different perspective, focusing on how global politics directly affected the lives of women in East Asia. This paper explores how Korean and Japanese women photographers address the complex impact of the U.S. military presence in the region, offering a deeply personal and often critical view of the aftermath of war and occupation.
Mee-sook Jeon (Korean, 1965– ) began her photographic work by documenting landscapes altered by the American military presence in Korea. Her images capture the environmental and social transformations caused by foreign occupation, revealing the profound influence of geopolitical forces on local spaces. In contrast, Sanghee Song (Korean, 1970– ) focuses on the lives of military sex workers, using their experiences as a symbol of Korea's subjugation under U.S. hegemony during the Cold War. Song's work is a poignant commentary on how women’s bodies have been sites of exploitation and power struggles.
In Japan, Miyako Ishiuchi (Japanese, 1947– ) reflects on her childhood growing up in a camptown during the U.S. occupation (1945–1953). Her photography offers a deeply personal narrative of post-war Japan, exploring the scars left on both people and places. Similarly, Okinawan photographer Mao Ishikawa (Japanese, 1953– ) traces the long history of U.S. military bases on the island, documenting the intimate relationships between local women and African-American GIs since the 1970s. Through her lens, Ishikawa provides a raw and complex portrayal of the intersection between race, power, and occupation in Okinawa.
Together, these women photographers challenge dominant narratives and expose the lasting effects of U.S. hegemony on the lives of East Asian women, offering a powerful visual critique of global politics.
Jeehey Kim is an Assistant Professor in the art history program at the School of Art, University of Arizona. She earned a PhD in Art History at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She has been publishing on Korean photography, including her first book Photography and Korea. She has been writing on vernacular photographic practices and on documentary films and visual culture in relation to the Cold War and gender politics in East Asia. At the University of Arizona, she launched a series of symposia on Asian photography with the Center for Creative Photography in the Spring of 2022. She is currently working on her second book project on funerary use of portrait photography in East Asia.
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