Mita Philosophical Society Lecture: "Crossing Fields—A Case Study of the Documentary Project 'Ibasyo'"

April 26, 2018

Lecture Overview

Mr. Okahara was born in Tokyo in 1980. He is a graduate of Waseda University and later dropped out of the graduate program at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) in South Africa.

Focusing on the theme of "ibasyo" (a place where one belongs), he has continued to take photographs and has published five photobooks to date: "Contact #1," "Vanishing World," "Almost Paradise," "Fukushima Fragments," and "Ibasyo: Girls Who Self-Harm 'Proof of Existence'." In fiscal year 2008, he was a trainee under the Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan. In 2009, he was the first Japanese photographer to be selected for the Joop Swart Masterclass, an event where the World Press Photo Foundation selects 12 young photographers from around the world. He was also named one of the "30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch" by Photo District News. In 2010, he received the W. Eugene Smith Fellowship for his work "Ibasyo." He received a Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography in 2012 for his work documenting Fukushima after the nuclear accident, and the Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award in 2014 for his work in Colombia. This latter work was also selected for the touring exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Leica Camera AG. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, including the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac (Paris), C/O Berlin, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Munich), the Annenberg Space for Photography (Los Angeles), and Aperture (New York).

This lecture, based on his latest work "ibasyo," will explore sociological, artistic, and humanistic approaches toward people who struggle to find their place in contemporary society.