Press

by Kristen Bateman

"In the hot and crowded summer city, there’s nothing better than finding a cool and quiet bookstore to get lost in. The winding aisles of novels, art tomes and magazines—especially when placed in one of the city’s most beautifully designed shops—can undoubtedly provide both relaxation and inspiration. A good book, along with an iced coffee, is all you need to feel like you’ve escaped the hustle and bustle"...

By Paige Silveria

Red Flower, The Women of Okinawa is the first monograph to be published in the United States by cult-favorite photographer MAO ISHIKAWA. The book is comprised of images — some of which have never before been published — from the late-’70s, during the US military occupation of Okinawa. After a brief time at school in Japan, MAO dropped out to return home and picked up a job at a GI bar in the black entertainment district of Koza. As MAO exclaims of the time: “What’s wrong with loving a black man! What’s wrong with working at a black bar! What’s wrong with celebrating...

By Paige Silveria

This Tuesday, at New York's subterranean photobook shop Dashwood, cult Japanese photographer Mao Ishikawa is signing her first monograph to be published in the United States: Red Flower, The Women of Okinawa. The newly released silkscreen book features striking black-and-white photographs of Mao and her girl friends, who worked in segregated GI bars, along with their boyfriends - the black army soldiers who frequented those bars in American-occupied Okinawa from 1975 to 1977. The images of carefree 20-year-olds as they laugh and cry, drink and fall in love, contrast sharply with the divisive tensions of the militarily controlled...