This new edition of “mama 恋 love” marks the first republication of Hideka Tonomura’s sensational debut photobook since its initial release in 2008.

Tonomura’s subject is her own mother: her infidelity and her affair. In the first, monochrome part of the book, Tonomura’s photographs show her mother in bed with a lover. The lover is obscured, completely blacked-out, which turns all attention to Tonomura’s mother – her face, her contortions, her gestures, her pleasure – while turning the lover into a menacing, almost un-human like creature. The second half, in color, was shot on 8mm then re-shot in telecine; the result is a warm, almost sentimental look whose contrast to the first half could hardly be any starker.
Tonomura’s intense, intimate visual exploration of her immediate family and her own feelings may not be easy to look at, but it is an unforgettable experience.

“Our lives were being controlled.
My mother never had any freedom.

Her first protest against my father was the love affair.

I had no choice but to take photos
when I found out that she was cheating.

I wanted to shoot it, whatever the cost.
I wanted to witness it.
That was all I felt at that time.

I was surprised when I saw how the photos came out.
My mother was looking at the camera.”
— from Hideka Tonomura’s statement (included in Japanese and English translation)

Artist Profile

Hideka TONOMURA

Born in 1979, Hideka Tonomura graduated from the Broadcasting and Filmmaking Department of Osaka Visual Arts School and began photography in 2002. She published her first photobook “Mama Love” in 2008 with Akaaka Art Publishing, revealing her deepest pain and the dark, hidden secrets of her family, which made an unforgettable impression on the public. In 2013 she published “They Called Me Yukari” with Zen Foto Gallery, in which she documented the life and people around her when she worked as a hostess in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. Her other publications include “Orange Elephant” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2015), “cheki” (Morel Books, 2018), “Die of Love” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2018), “SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2020), “mama 恋 love” [New Edition] (Zen Foto Gallery, 2021) and “Toxic” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2022).

Actively presenting her work in and out of Japan, her major solo exhibitions include “Unlucky Family”, Nikon Salon, Tokyo and Osaka (2004); “Tonomura Hideka Shageki –0305–”, Uplink, Tokyo (2005); “Viva Hostess’s Life”, Club Ginko, Tokyo (2007); “mama 恋 love”, Trunk Gallery 81, Seoul (2011); “They called me Yukari / mama 恋 love”, Zen Foto Gallery (2013); “orange elephant”, Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo and Galeria About Art, Spain (2016); “die of love”, Zen Foto Gallery (2018); “SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty”, Zen Foto Gallery (2020) and Okayama Gender Equality Promotion Center, Okayama (2021); “Shining Woman Project at Kyotographie 2022” (2022); and “Love”, Zen Foto Gallery (2022). Her major group exhibitions include “Shikijo: Eroticism in Japanese Photography”, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong (2016); Daiwa Foundation Japan House Gallery, London (2018); “10/10 Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Women Photographers”, Kyotographie (2022) and “Love Songs”, Maison Européenne de la Photographie (2022).

Tonomura launched the “SHINING WOMAN PROJECT” in 2019, a portrait project dedicated to women fighting cancer. In 2022, her debut work “Mama Love” was collected by the MEP – La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris.

Gallery Exhibitions