The exhibition "Shima no Ama" opens a window into the daily fishing life of Japanese ama women. The exhibition features eighty black-and-white photographs by Kusukazu Uraguchi, taken between the 1950s and 1980s. Uraguchi spent about thirty years capturing these women diving for fish and shellfish, a tradition more than three thousand years old.
The photographs capture the hard, yet resilient existence of the ama. They portray the daily work in the sea, the simple equipment, and the rough waters in which the women move. The images are not idealized portraits, but honest black and white photographs that reveal the ama's mood and character.
Housed in a historic canal house, Huis Marseille focuses on photography in a broad sense, from classical to cultural and historical documentation. With this exhibition, the museum connects Amsterdam to a special world culture. The tradition of the ama requires not only physical strength, but also a strong connection to nature and culture.
The exhibition uses careful black-and-white photography to depict the authentic and sometimes rough life of ama fishermen's wives in Japan.
The exhibition underscores the importance of capturing and preserving unique traditions that are slowly disappearing. In doing so, it offers a valuable visual story that is both artistically and culturally significant.