Profile

Masaaki MiyazawaJAPANESEENGLISH

Born in 1960 in Tokyo, Miyazawa is a leading Japanese photographer who works actively within the fashion and advertising industries as well as regularly exhibiting around the world. His talent was recognized early in his career when he received the inaugural New York International Center of Photography Rookie of the Year Award in 1985 for his infrared photography series entitled "Yume juya, Ten Nights of Dreams." He has published numerous collections of his work including "Masaaki Miyazawa Infrared Photography 1979 – 1999."

Miyazawa has been photographing the Shinken Sengu Ceremony at Ise Shrine since 2004 and was the official photographer of the 62nd Shikinen Sengu Ceremony in 2014. The resulting work of 60,000 photos entitled, "Ise Jingu: A Modern Legend" was dedicated to Ise Shrine. Part of the collection was exhibited at Roppongi Hills in 2013, which was attended by an audience of over 50,000 people. In addition to his photography practice, Miyazawa recently directed his first feature documentary, "Umi Yama Aida, In Between Mountains and Oceans." The film is an intimate portrait of the harmony between forests and the people who share a connection with them. The film was nominated for 2015 Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival and awarded for Best Foreign Feature Documentary at Madrid International Film Festival.

Miyazawa is popular both in Japan and around the world. His collections of Mount Fuji, "Red Dragon," was recently exhibited in Shanghai as part of the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. His most recent works include, "Jouan, Pure Darkness" and "Sengu."