Miho Kajioka Japanese, b. 1973

Miho Kajioka (b. 1973, Japan, lives in Kyoto) studied fine art in the United States and Canada and started her career as a journalist in her native country Japan. It was after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that Kajioka was reconnected to her photographic art. Two months after the disaster, while reporting in the coastal city of Kamaishi, where over 800 people died, she found roses blooming beside a blasted building. That mixture of grace and ruin made her think of a Japanese poem:

 

In the spring, cherry blossoms,

In the summer the cuckoo,

In autumn the moon, and in

Winter the snow, clear, cold.

 

Written by the Zen monk Dogen, the poem describes the fleeting, fragile beauty of the changing seasons. The roses Kajioka saw in Kamaishi bloomed simply because it was spring. That beautiful and uncomplicated statement, made by roses in the midst of ruin, impressed her, and returned her to photography.

 

The photos presented, span Kajioka’s adulthood, including pictures she took while living abroad, as well as scenes she captured in Japan after the disaster. The little pictures of a flower, or a running boy, are scenes from daily life, as it is. These fragments of her life, from various periods and against changing backdrops, are not so different from each other, and the differences that remain aren't important. Happiness, sadness, beauty and tragedy only exist in our minds. Things are just as they are.

 

Since 2013 Kajioka’s work has been exhibited in France, the Netherlands, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Spain.

 

Exhibitions 

2020

Beyond the Obvious, Ira Stehmann Fine Art, Munich, Germany,

March 9 to May10 (Group)

 

2019

time travel (duo exhibition with Rens Horn), de ketelfactory, Schiedam, the Netherlands (September 28 to December 22)

And, where did the peacocks go?, International Photo Festival InCadaqués, Cadaqués, Spain (September 20 to 29)

And, where did the peacocks go?, Kunstenfestival Watou, Watou, Belgium

(June 29 to September 1)

 

2018 (all solo)

So it goes, IBASHO Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium (September 9 to November 4)

So it goes, Caroline O’Breen Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

(September 8 to October 13)

Half a dozen, Residency Program, Lisbon, Portugal (May 24 to August 31)

Unfinished spaces, The Photographers’ Gallery, Print Sales, London, UK

(Feb 23 to April 14)

 

2017

And, where did the peacocks go?, Corden Potts Gallery, San Francisco, US (March 23 to April 29)

 

2016

And, where did the peacocks go?, Galerie VU', Paris, France (June 8 to September 2)

Et, où les paons sont-ils allés?, Festival La Gacilly Photo, France (June 3 to September 30)

Grace and Ruin, SeeLevel Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherland

And, where did the peacocks go?, Central Colombo Americano, Bogota, Colombia

 

2015

Renaissance Photography Prize, Getty Images Gallery, London, UK (Group)

And, did the peacocks go?, ARTBO, Bogota, Colombia (Solo)

And, where did the peacocks go?, Twenty 14 Contemporary, Milan, Italy (Solo)

UNREAL, M2 Gallery, Sydney, Australia (Group)

 

2014

LAYERS, Microprisma, Rome, Italy (Solo)

As it is, Fotografika Galerie, Gland, Switzerland (Solo)

Balade(s) Parcours Photographique, Galerie Le Neuf, Lodève, France (Group)

Boutographies, Montpellier, France (Group)

Catching tails, Linke., Milan, (Group)

 

2013

As it is, Centro Italiano della Fotografia d’Autore, Bibbiena, Italy (Group)

Reality and Emotion, Valid Foto BCN Gallery, Barcelona (Group)

 

Awards

2019

Photobook ‘so it goes’

Winner of the 64th Prix Nadar Gens d’image

 

2017

Photobook ‘And, where did the peacocks go?’

Kassel Photobook Award 2017 - One of 33 experts selection of the year, Kassel, Germany

 

2016

Photobook ‘I, Tralfamadorian’

Shortlisted for LUMA Dummy Book Award Arles, Arles, France

 

2015

The runner-up for best series, Renaissance Photo Prize, London, UK

Visitor Award, Portfolio Review, Düsseldorf Photoweekend, Dusseldorf, Germany

 

2014

Finalist, 2014 Emergentes dst 2014 at Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal

Finalist, 2014 Voies Off Prize, Arles, France

Finalist, 2014 Boutographies, Montpellier, France

 

2013

One of the three finalists, 2013 Portfolio Italia, Gran Premio Epson, Bibbiena, Italy

First place, 2013 Fotoleggendo Award, Roma, Italy