Anne Murayama

Curator & Publisher of ephemere.

Anne Murayama completed two pre-medical degrees in Science before following her true love in the Arts. Formerly known as Erin Cross • Erin Nøir of the now-defunct Parallel Planets and Frame Zero, she was also the chief editor of Lomography’s international magazine and the curator-manager of Vetro.

As an image-based artist, Anne has created a diverse body of work with a diaristic approach: evoking an intimate, mysterious disposition that is distinctly hers. To her, black and white images illuminate an evocative kind of solitude, like a phantasm—stripped off of hues, but not devoid of spirit.

As an independent curator and publisher since 2013, Anne has organized more than 10 international group exhibitions and has produced more than 30 photo books and zines. Her works have been exhibited and featured in Australia, Cambodia, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, the UK, and the US. She is also an alumnus of the Invisible Photographer Asia and the Angkor Photo Workshops.

In 2023, after surviving a life-changing illness, Anne started ephemere. — a small gallery and press that aims to help photographers showcase their work in Japan. She lives in Tokyo with her husband and their cat, Kiki.

Testimonials

“I was immediately fascinated by Anne’s attitude towards photography, editing, and bookmaking.”

— @japaneseavantgardebooks
“...Over the years, I’ve watched Anne grow and witnessed her artistic endeavors. Her courage in *doing her thing* is inspiring.”

— KB Meniado, Book Bed
“Anne is one of the most contemporary photographers I know. I really admire her confidence in life and art. She gets (possesses) our digital contemporary culture in a brilliantly savvy way.”

— John Sypal, @tokyocamerastyle

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Latest Publications

Featured

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~ Sadness comes in waves. ~

Tilde offers a fleeting glimpse into a larger, deeply personal project of love and loss, an emotional tide mirroring the sea's constant rhythm: at times overwhelming, at times a quiet stillness.

One-page photo zine (A3 when folded out, A6 when folded in)
Handmade, numbered, and stamp-signed
Monochrome, front-and-back printing

Free shipping worldwide via regular air mail.

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Anne Murayama's second edition photobook, Tadaima, poetically reinterprets the meaning of the Japanese word after six years of living in Tokyo. Revisiting a wider edit from 2017, Murayama reflects on her evolving sense of home, capturing sleeping commuters, street cats, uniquely shaped trees, and the haunting presence of transient souls. Though her tools have changed, her eye for the beauty in the mundane remains unwavering. The large A4 format and full-bleed images, set against a calming yet haunting moonlit cover, create a poignant visual narrative that speaks to the everlong quest for belonging and the solace of hearing "Okaerinasai."

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Details

Edition: Open, numbered and signed
Format: Softcover with dust jacket, perfect binding
Pages: 144 pages, black and white
Printing: Tokyo, Japan
Publisher: ephemere.
Size: 21 x 14.85cm (A5)

Volumes
º1 — published in 2021 (more info)
º2 — published in 2022 (more info)
º3 — published in 2023 (more info)

Description
Following her back-to-back series, Noir Myths and Dypschits, Anne Murayama began Anatomies as a means to visualize her “unending” mishmash of narratives.

"With each page that you skim through and with every story that you see through, I blithely unfurl my anatomical parts with you."
— AM

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Anomalies, a box-set trilogy by Anne Murayama, captures a transformative period in the artist's life, a distinct 'glitch' in her personal timeline that unfolded during the early months of Ephemere's establishment in 2023, revealing beautiful oddities, outré memories, and enigmatic happenstances.

Emerging from a life-altering illness, this collection invites viewers into Murayama's lens, where the mundane is imbued with intrigue and wonder, and each image hints at the surreal currents beneath the surface of the ordinary, offering glimpses of the extraordinary within the everyday.

While presented as a complete trilogy for now, this project, much like its inspiration, leaves open the potential for future exploration of the Anomalies theme as the photographer-turned-publisher's journey continues.

ISBN: 978-4-911506-08-0

Catastrophe by Anne Murayama is a captivating photobook that captures the essence of street cats across Japan over the span of seven years, including the famed cat islands of Ainoshima, Sanagijima, and Tashirojima. The clever title not only incorporates "cat" but also highlights the unexpected joys and mischief cats bring. The gothic font and predominantly black page backgrounds create an oxymoron: tough-looking on the outside but soft on the inside, much like cats and their lovers. Dedicated to her late father and with thanks to her husband, this petite book is a tender homage to the cats that have touched her life.