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.

2023
Tokyo Weekender (JP)
2022
Phases Mag, Visual Interview on JCH (JP), Women in Photo (UK)
2021
C4 Journal (UK), Women in Street (US)
2020
Frozen Wasteland (US), Picture Perfect (PH)
2018
Japan Foundation (PH)
2017
Adobo Magazine (PH) , Artbooks (PH)
2016
CNN (PH), Purveyr (PH), Reading Photographs (PH), When in Manila (PH)
2015
Scout Mag (PH), If You Leave (UK), Off Duty (MY), Don’t Take Pictures (UK), Streettogs Academy, Reading Photographs (PH), Book Bed (PH), The Muse (SG), Obscured (SG)
2014
Whattaroll Magazine (UK/US), Softly Sometimes (PH), Time Out Tokyo (JP), Spoon & Tamago (JP), Stache Magazine (PH), Latent Image Magazine (CA), Voyeur (PH)
2013 >
Shooting Film (VN), Daily Inquirer (PH), Young Star (PH), Lomography Magazine, The Juvenilia (UK), Status Magazine (PH)
2023
- A Wall of Women by Women (Ballarat Foto, AU)
2021
- Tokyo Art Book Fair (JP)
- Inner View by Rub Hub (JP)
2020
- Tokyo Emergence (JP)
2017
- MONØMANIA (PH)
- Lacklustre at Mt. Rokko Int’l. Photo Festival (JP)
2016
- Present Progressive at Vetro (PH)
- ImageNation 2016: Eyes on the World (IT)
- Terrorium at Alternative Instructions (PH)
2015
- Phantasmagoria at Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops (CM)
- Stray at Slideluck Manila II (PH)
- Stray at Fotosemana Manila (PH)
- Façades: Neo-Noir Portraits (SG)
2014 >
- Catatonia at Scientista by OHAP (PH)
- Catatonia at Nincompoop (PH)
- Whilst We Wait (PH)
2018
Private Mentorship
Tokyo, Japan
Mentors: Osamu Kanemura and Hiroko Komatsu
2017
Kyotographie International Photography Festival
Mentor: Zanelle Muholi — On Self-Representation

Trasatlantica by Photo Espana
Manila, Philippines
2016
Bookmaking Workshop
artbooks.ph
Mentor: Yodel Pe
2015
Angkor Photo Workshops
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tutors: Antoine D’Agata and Sohrab Hura
Invisible Photographer Asia
Tutor: Kevin Wy Lee

Tokyo Weekender Feature

Portfolio Reviews with Anne Murayama

Featured

Portfolio Reviews with Anne Murayama

from $25.00

From Portfolio to Publication: Guided Photo Reviews is a personalized online workshop designed to help you transform your portfolio into a compelling photo book or zine.

Led by Anne Murayama, a seasoned curator and publisher with a reputation for her evocative and intimate visual style, this workshop offers expert guidance to refine your vision, master sequencing, and explore innovative ways to present your work.

Through one-on-one sessions, you’ll receive tailored feedback and actionable insights aligned with your artistic goals.

Additionally, you’ll have the exclusive chance to collaborate with Anne and ephemere. for potential publication, elevating your project to a professional level.

APPLY HERE

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

WRITE A TESTIMONIAL.

Latest Publications

Featured

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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

Anomalies, the latest installment in Anne Murayama's monochrome photobook series, is a tribute to the artist's ongoing exploration of the extraordinary in the ordinary, taking cues from Daido Moriyama's Record series. Drawing inspiration from the Tanabata Festival, which marked the inception of her journey with ephemere., Murayama's lens captures a world teeming with beautiful oddities, outré memories, and enigmatic happenstances. As a sequel to her Anatomies trilogy, Anomaliesº1 invites readers into Murayama's lens, where the mundane is transformed into a realm of intrigue and wonder, and where every photograph tells a story of the surreal lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life.

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.