Kosuke Okahara

Kosuke Okahara (1980) is a Japanese photographer that covers social issues in the tradition of humanistic documentary photography.

Okahara is the winner of PDN's 30, Joop Swart Masterclass of World Press Photo, a Eugene Smith Fellowship, a Getty Images Grant, and a Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award.

Okahara was born in Tokyo, Japan. After a period of training and competing in freestyle skiing at international level, he studied education at Waseda University. Upon obtaining his degree, he embarked on a career as a photographer, alternating between news reporting and long-term personal projects. His initial trip led him to Sudan (2004), Burma (2007), China (2007), as well as his first trip to Colombia (2006).

In 2004, he began "Ibasyo" a long-term photographic essay on adolescent self-mutilation in Japan. Japanese society ignores this phenomenon it considers to be shameful. Okahara took on the pluralistic roles of photographer, close friend, witness, and social worker. One of his series that he photographed in Colombia has been published and exhibited as a part of "100 years of Leica photography". Other current issues in his photography are the Arab uprisings and the chaos on the Russian periphery He photographed migrants around Calais in 2008. Since the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, he documents the region devastated by the disaster with a particular attention given to the signs of time. This work is the subject of a book, Fukushima Fragments published by Editions de La Martinière in 2015.

Okahara was a member of Agence VU' between 2007 and 2010.

• Contact #1 -Any given day-. Backyard Project, 2013.
• Vanishing Existence. Backyard Project, 2013.
• Ibasyo Book Journey. Handependent, 2014.
• Almost Paradise. Only Photography, 2014.
• Fukushima Fragments. France: Editions de la Martinière. 2015. ISBN 978-2732470009.

• 2005: Ueno Hikoma Award
• 2008: Overseas Training Grant for Emerging Artist, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese Government
• 2008: Special Mention, Prix Kodak
• 2009: Photo District News PDN's 30
• 2009: Sony World Photography Awards
• 2009: World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass
• 2010: Fellowship, W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant
• 2012: Finalist, European Publishers Award
• 2012: Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography, Perpignan
• 2013: Festival Photoreporter en Baie de Saint-Brieuc Grant
• 2014: Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award, Perpignan

Solo exhibitions

• Resistance, Nikon Salon, Tokyo, 2005; Nikon Salon, Osaka, Japan, 2005; Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, Bangkok, 2006.
• Ibasyo, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2011.
• Surviving for existence – Abkhazia, the country that doesn’t exist,. Festival Photoreporter, Saint-Brieuc, France, 2013.
• Fukushima Fragments, Photo Antalya, Antalya, Turkey, 2015.
• Almost Paradise, Only Photography Gallery, Berlin, 2015.
• Fukushima Fragments, Polka Gallery, Paeis, 2016.

Group exhibitions

• Resistance, Kyusan Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 2005; Fukuoka Asia Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 2006; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, 2006.
• Vanishing Existence, Chobimela V - International Photo Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2009; Prix Kodak Exhibition, Paris, 2009.
• Almost Paradise, Editors' Choice -The Most Promising Young Photographers-, Ricoh Ring Cube, Tokyo, 2009.
• Ibasyo, Sony World Photography Awards Global Tour, Aperture Foundation Gallery, New York, 2009; Noorderlicht - International Photo Festival, Groningeng, The Netherlands, 2009; 10th, International Photo Gathering, Aleppo, Syria, 2009; Fotografia – Festival Internazionale di Roma, Rome, 2010; Orange - International Photo Festival, Changsha, China, 2010; Photoquai 2011, Quai Branly Museum, Paris, 2011.
• Chance, Polka Gallery, Paris, 2009; Festiwal Fotodocumentu, – International Photo Festival, Poznan, Poland, 2010.
• Vanishing Existence, Power of Photography, Gallery 21, Daiba, Tokyo, 2010; Tokyo Photo, Gallery 21, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, 2010.
• Resistance -Darfur Conflict-, Festiwal Fotodocumentu, – International Photo Festival, Poznan, Poland, 2010.
• Any given day, Chobimela VI – International Photo Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2011.
• Corps et âmes, Polka Galery, Paris, 2011.
• ”Kosuke Okahara et Jehsong Baak, Galerie KJB, Paris, 2011.
• 100 years of Leica Photography, House of Photography, Hamburg, Germany, 2015; C/O Berlin, Berlin, 2015.