THE 16TH RPS GRANTEE HIROSHI OKAMOTO

10/04/2017

We are pleased to announce that Hiroshi Okamoto’ proposal “We do not need you, here. / If I could only fly.” has been selected as the 16th grantee of Reminders Photography Stronghold Grant from 2017 June deadline submissions selected by our seven commissioned judges,Peggy Sue Amison, Marie Lelievre, Emmeline Yong, Enrico Bossan, Staton Winter, Giuseppe Oliverio and Dean Chapman.
We are now scheduling his exhibition in 2018, more news later!

©Hiroshi Okamoto / We do not need you, here. / If I could only fly.

“Tittle: We do not need you, here. / If I could only fly.

This project is the story about public humiliation to individual in Japanese society based on my friend’s personal experience.
On April 2004, three Japanese citizens were kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq.
One of three was a just eighteen years old volunteer teenager.
He is my friend.
Terrorists requested Japanese government to withdraw Japanese military from Iraq but the prime minister strongly rejected this request then.
Somehow those kidnapped people were released after eight days peacefully.
Those three citizens could come back to Japan safely.
However, when those three people came back to Japan, all Japanese society completely criticized and abused them.
Mass of people really interrogated three people about their self-responsibility.
More than one hundred abusing letters were sent to my friend after his coming back.
Most of TV shows and news papers were reporting about himself everyday even his privacy information was exposed by anonymous critics through online.
When he was anywhere in the city, everyone noticed himself and they really pointed to him with finger pointing.
Traditionally Japanese society is based on various local communities for long time.
On the other hand, once a member from the community made mistakes and troubles, immediately other members forced the member to be isolated from their community.
Then society frantically points the sinful individual as a heretic with finger pointing.
Anyone can be the person who do pointing or whom to be pointed as long as you are a member of our society.
*The main portrait series consist of the actual abusing letters from anonymous critics, which my friend really received them then and my fictional portrait images of anonymous critics.

©HIROSHI OKAMOTO / We do not need you, here. / If I could only fly.

” About Hiroshi Okamoto ”
Hiroshi Okamoto is born in Tokyo in 1990.
He studied anthropology and social sciences at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific Univesity in Japan.
After graduating, he used to work as a director in video production in Tokyo.
His works focus on storytelling with using various visual images from photography and videography, objects.
His main concern is contradictions from social isolation between individual and society.

He works as a visual storyteller to find and create personal narratives to understand society at the anthropological and sociological points of the view. -Awards 2017.
World Press Photo The Joop Swart Masterclass, The Netherlands – Nominee 2017.
Fiebre Dummy Award, Spain – Shortlisted 2017.
EMON PHOTO AWARD, Tokyo – Special Prize 2016.
Feria de Libros de Fotos de Autor Felifa, Argentina – Honorable Mention 2016.
Photobook Award Maribor, Slovenia – Runner Up Prize 2016.
The Anamorphosis Prize, USA – Shortlisted 2016.
Critical Mass – Top200 2016.
Cortona on the Move’s Dummy Book Award, Italy – Finalist 2016.
LUMA RENCONTRES DUMMY BOOK AWARD ARLES, France – Shortlisted 2016.
DUMMY AWARD KASSEL, Germany – 2nd Prize 2016.
Self Publish Riga, Latvia – Shortlisted 2016.
Photobook Bristol, UK – Shortlisted 2016.
Photo Espana Best Photography of the Year Award, Spain – Shortlisted 2015.
Le PhotobookFest Paris, Rock your dummy award2015, France – Shortlisted 2015.
Portrait Salon, UK – Selected 2015.
Photolux Festival self publishing award, Italy – Shortlisted 2015.
Ueno Hikoma Awards, Japan – Mainichi Shimbun Prize -Selected Exhibitions 2017.06.
Solo Exhibition “We do not need you, here.”, ATHENS PHOTO FESTIVAL, Athens Greek 2016.11.
Solo Exhibition “Recruit”, LIANZHOU FOTO FESTIVAL, Lianzhou China 2016.09.
Screening “Recruit”, SEOUL LUNAR PHOTO FESTIVAL, Seoul Korea 2016.02.
Group Exhibition Portrait Salon 2015, Reminders photography stronghold, Tokyo Japan 2016.01.
Solo Exhibition “Recruit”, Reminders photography stronghold, Tokyo Japan 2016.01.
Group Exhibition “Ueno Hikoma Awards Exhibition”, Higashikawa Culture Gallery, Hokkaido Japan 2015.12.
Group Exhibition “Ueno Hikoma Awards Exhibition”, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Tokyo Japan 2015.11.
Group Exhibition “Ueno Hikoma Awards Exhibition”, Museum of Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka Japan 2015.11.
Group Exhibition Portrait Salon 2015, Embassy Tea Gallery, London UK -Residency 2016.10.

Docking Station at Amsterdam, The Netherlands -Publication Foam Magazine, GUP Magazine, Vogue Italia, burn magazine, Der Greif Magazine, Yorokobu Magazine, China Daily, Korea The Monthly Photo Art Magazine, PHmuseum, Future Shoot, KIEKIE, Yahoo!News Japan, Mainichi Shimbun, Korocolor Publishers -Corporate Client Amnesty International, Saudi Aramco, FleishmanHillard Japan, Linkazia Japan, Tokyu Corporation, Tokyu Department Store co.,ltd., Mt. Fuji Springs Inc., MHD Moët Hennessy Diageo K.K., WWF Japan, 350.org Japan, NPO D×P”
http://hiroshi-okamoto.com

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