I first came across Harumi Yamaguchi about 15 years ago when I bought the book 'Harumi Gals’ published as part of the Parco View series in 1978. Harumi is a household name over in her native Japan but surprisingly less known over here, although the opposite might be true of other western airbrush artists such as Philip Castle.

What I find interesting about Yamaguchi is that she was a woman working in a very male dominated field where female sexuality was heavily exploited in the genre and although her work is still sexually charged it is through a far more innocent and fun prism - a female fantasy of a male fantasy. 'Harumi Gals' also contains several photograph studies of the artist posing for her own compositions where the final piece was turned into a westernised version of herself. I have been a huge fan ever since purchasing this incredible book all those years ago.

“although her work is still sexually charged it is through a far more innocent and fun prisim - a female fantasy of a male fantasy.”