from the publisher : In IPY, Anrakuji represents herself as an alchemist of images and a catalyst for daydreams and desires. The vignettes of her self-portraits blur the boundaries between documentary and staged photography. Emi Anrakuji originally studied oil painting at Musashino University of Art and Music in Tokyo. By her mid-20s, she was diagnosed with a cerebral disease that severely curtailed her activities for more than a decade. During her gradual recovery, she took up photography. Initially, Anrakuji’s audience was only herself and the jurors of public competitions to which she sent her entries