Rinko Kawauchi HonFRPS (川内 倫子, Kawauchi Rinko, born 1972) is a Japanese photographer. Her work is characterized by a serene, poetic style, depicting the ordinary moments in life.
Life and career Kawauchi became interested in photography while studying graphic design and photography at Seian University of Art and Design where she graduated in 1993."Rinko Kawauchi," in: Florian Heine & Brad Finger. 50 Contemporary Photographers You Should Know. Munich: Prestel, 2016. She first worked in commercial photography for an advertising agency for several years before embarking on a career as a fine art photographer. She has mentioned that she continues to work the advertising job. Her background and experience with design have influenced the edits and arrangements of photos in her series. Kawauchi often thinks about new ways to see her photographs, allowing her to continue to find new meaning and significance in her work. There is little known about her personal life and family, but through her photo book Cui Cui (2005) she portrays the memories of her family, which she has said to have been shooting for over a decade. The photos in said book capture all the ordinaries and emotions of life, ranging from the happiness of childbirth to the heartbreak of death.
At age 19, she began making prints of her first black-and-white photographs, and it wasn't until five years later that she started printing color photographs. After experimenting with different cameras, she decided to stay with the Rolleiflex 6 × 6, which she still uses.
In 2001, she published simultaneously her first three photo books: Utatane ("catnap"), Hanabi ("fireworks"), and Hanako (a Japanese girl's name). In the following years she won prizes for two of the books in Japan.Boris Friedewald. Women Photographers: From Julia Margaret Cameron to Cindy Sherman. Munich/London/New York: Prestel, 2014, S. 108, . In 2004 Kawauchi published Aila; in 2010 Murmuration, and in 2011 Illuminance.
Kawauchi's art is rooted in Shinto, the ethnic religion of the people of Japan. According to Shinto, all things on earth have a spirit, hence no subject is too small or mundane for Kawauchi's work; she also photographs "small events glimpsed in passing,"Ian Jeffrey. Rinko Kawauchi: Murmuration. Photoworks, 15 (Autumn-Winter, 2010), pp. 26–35. conveying a sense of the transient. Kawauchi sees her images as parts of series that allow the viewer to juxtapose images in the imagination, thereby making the photograph a work of artYumi Goto, "Rinko Kawauchi's Illuminance". Time, April 11, 2011. and allowing a whole to emerge at the end. She likes working in photo books because they allow the viewer to engage intimately with her images. Her photographs are mostly in 6 × 6 format. However, upon being invited to the Brighton Photo Biennial in 2010, Kawauchi first photographed digitally and began taking photos that were not square.
Kawauchi also composes haiku poems.
She lived for many years in Tokyo and in 2018 moved to the countryside on the outskirts of the city. (paywall)
Style Since she began her photographic career, Kawauchi's photographs have worked to capture intimate and poetic moments of the world around her. They often include radiant light that produces a dream-like quality. The sublimity of her photographs are further enhanced by her use of soft colors as well as her awareness of beauty in even the most banal moments.
There is not one specific theme or concept that Kawauchi chooses to explore with her image creation; rather, she does it spontaneously, observing and reacting to everything that is around her before doing any sort of editing. She focuses on just shooting, photographing everything that attracts her eyes before looking back and thinking about why she was interested in those subjects. Another subject that she explored in her book, Ametsuchi, was the practice of religious ceremonies and rituals that hinted at an earthly cycle involving the concepts of time and impermanence. In the book, she depicts Japan's Mount Aso, a sacred site for a Shinto ritual called , and its volcanic landscape. The ritual is a long-standing tradition dating back about 1,300 years in which farmland is burned yearly to maintain its sustainability for new crops as opposed to using chemicals, and the communities at Aso are among the few that continue this tradition. Ironically, after witnessing essentially the rebirth of farmland take place, Kawauchi claims that she burned away her old self and was reborn herself.
In her book Halo, she continues to explore that theme with different rituals at other locations. She traveled to Izumo, Japan to witness a ritual that involves the lighting of sacred flames to welcome the gods. She also went to the Hebei province of China to see new year celebrations, including a 500 year old tradition of throwing molten iron at the city walls to make their own fireworks.
Awards 1997: Grand Prix Prize, 9th Hitotsubo Exhibition, Guardian Garden, Tokyo 2002: 27th Kimura Ihei Award, Rookie of the Year Award, Photography Society of Japan 2009: Infinity Award for Art from the International Center of Photography 2012: Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society 2013: Minister of Education Award for New Artists 2013: Domestic Photographer Award, Higashikawa Prize, Higashikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan"Exhibition of the 29th Higashikawa Award Winners " Accessed 15 April 2020.
Publications Photo books Utatane ("Siesta"). Tokyo: Ritoru Moa (="Little More"), 2001 (reprinted 2002, 2004, 2010, 2012). . (Japanese).Utatane (5th edition, 2012), digitized 2 August 2022. Accessed 7 December 2024.Most of the data for the following bibliography and lists of exhibitions were taken from the bibliography in Illuminance from 2011, Rinko Kawauchi's homepage, her profile on the website of the Japanese online bookshop Shashasha, and fact-checked through Abebooks, ISBN translators, a. o. Hanabi ("Fireworks"). Tokyo: Little More, 2001 (reprinted 2004, 2010). (Japanese). Hanako ("Catnap"). Tokyo: Little More, 2001. ISBN 4-89815-054-3 (Japanese). blue. Tokyo: Petit Grand 2003. (Japanese). Aila. Tokyo: Little More, 2004. (Japanese).Flip-through Aila on YouTube, uploaded by the Shashin Centre on May 15, 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2024. New edition: Tokyo: Foil, 2015 . the eyes, the ears, "Photographs and Words". Tokyo: Foil, 2005 (reprinted 2007, 2010). (Japanese/English). Cui Cui. Tokyo: Foil, and Paris: Actes Sud/Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, 2005. . Photographic memories of her family. Rinko Diary. Tokyo: Foil, 2006. (Japanese). Rinko Diary II. Tokyo: Foil, 2006. (Japanese). Majun Tokyo: Foil, 2007. (Japanese). Set of 10 postcards with photographs of Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Semear. Tokyo: Foil, and São Paulo: Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), 2007. (Japanese/English/Portuguese). Photographs taken on three trips to Brazil, invited by the museum.Semear on Kawauchi's homepage. Retrieved 7 December 2024. Murmuration. Brighton: Photoworks, 2010. . Edition of 1000 copies. First digital photographs of Brighton Pier for the Photo Biennial. One Day – 10 Photographers (one signed book in a set of ten individual volumes). Heidelberg/Berlin: Kehrer, 2010. , edited by Harvey Benge.Series shot on solstice, June 21, 2010 by Jessica Backhaus, Gerry Badger, Harvey Benge, John Gossage, Todd Hido, Rob Hornstra, Kawauchi, Eva Maria Ocherbauer, Martin Parr and Alec Soth. The publisher's description of this set: Snowflake Twelfth. (Photo-zine on 1952 novel Snowflake by Paul Gallico). Zine's Mate, 2011. Illuminance. Text by David Chandler, bibliography. New York: Aperture, 2011. . (Simultaneous editions in Japanese, German, French and Italian: Tokyo: Foil, Heidelberg/Berlin: Kehrer, Paris: Éditions Xavier Barral, Italy: Postcart.) The Tenth Anniversary Edition, expanded edition with additional texts by Masatake Shinohara and Lesley A. Martin. New York: Aperture, and London: Thames & Hudson, 2021. .Flip-through the edition by unobtainium photobooks uploaded January 15, 2023 on YouTube (5:05 min). (Japanese edition with another cover by Torch Press.) Light and Shadow. Tokyo: Rinko Kawauchi Office, 2012. Pictures taken in Tōhoku region after Fukushima disaster, proceeds went to relief funds.Presentation of Light and Shadow on the Kawauchi's homepage. Retrieved 7 December 2024. New edition: Kanagawa: Super Labo, 2014. , edition of 1000 copies (Japanese/English). Approaching Whiteness. Tokyo: Goliga, 2013 (Japanese). Printed scroll in 9 variations of 10 to 12 images each, total combined edition of 300.On the production and design of Approaching Whiteness. on YouTube (6:55 min), uploaded by the publisher Goliga in 2013. Illuminance, Ametsuchi, Seeing Shadows. Text by Leiko Ikemura. Kyoto: Seigen-sha, 2012. (Japanese/English). Ametsuchi. Text by Kawauchi. New York: Aperture, 2013. . (Simultaneous Japanese edition by Seigen-sha, German edition by Kehrer.) Sheets. Berlin: Kominek, 2013. . with Leiko Ikemura. kirakira. Shizuoka: Nohara, 2014. ISBN 978-4-904257-25-8 (Japanese). with Terri Weifenbach. Gift, two books in slipcase. Tokyo: Amana, 2014. . The river embraced me. Tokyo: Torch Press, 2016. . Halo. New York: Aperture, 2017. . (Simultaneous Japanese and French editions: Tokyo: HeHe, Paris: Éditions Xavier Barral.) with Seung Woo Back. Composition No. 1. Japan: Iann, 2017. ISBN 979-11-85374-16-1 (Japanese/Korean/English). Mobile phone photographs by both and conversations recorded for about 100 days.Obscure ISBN on Shashasha.com. Hajimari no hi ("A New Day"). Japan: Kyuryudo, 2018. (Japanese). Words and pictures in the format of a children's picture-book. When I was seven. Tokyo: HeHe, 2019. . For French fashion brand agnès b. As It Is. Marseille, France: Chose Commune, 2020. (French/English). (paywall) (Simultaneous Japanese edition by Torch Press.) Sonnafuu ("Like that"). Photographs and texts. Japan: Nanarokusha, 2020. ISBN 978-4-904292-98-3 (Japanese). Early Works 1997, mini portfolio (205 × 258 mm) with 6 color collotype prints. Japan: Benrido, 2021. Des Oiseaux (On Birds). Text by ornithologist Guilhem Lesaffre. Paris: Éditions Xavier Barral, 2021. . (Simultaneous French edition.) M/E – On this sphere / Endlessly interlinking. Exhibition catalogue, texts by Masatake Shinohara, Hana Takigami and Yasuhiro Arai. Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 2022. Yamanami. Japan: Shinyodo, 2022. ISBN 978-4-910387-02-4. with Shuntarō Tanikawa. Here and Now. Tokyo: Torch Press, 2023. ISBN 978-4-907562-43-4 (Japanese/English). Poem by Tanikawa originally for music by Ikuko Harada.
Video works 2012: Seeing Shadow (14:50 min) 2012: Ametsuchi (14:50 min) 2012: Haruarashi (Spring Storm) (5:55 min) 2015: Illuminance (56:26 min) 2017: Halo (7:07 min)
Exhibitions Solo exhibitions 1998: Utatane, Guardian Garden, Tokyo 1999: Hitoiko, Light Works, Yokohama, Japan 2000: Hibi, Aki-Ex Gallery, Tokyo 2001: Hanabi, Gray Gallery, Tokyo (book) 2001: Hanako, Little More Gallery, Tokyo (book) 2001: Utatane, Parko Gallery, Tokyo (book) 2002: Collette, Paris, France 2003: vonRot Gallery, Berlin, Germany 2004: Cohan and Leslie, New York 2003: Rinko Kawauchi, 4F Gallery, Los Angeles, California 2003: Wacall Photo Exhibition, Spiral Garden, Tokyo 2004: Aila, California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside (book) Little More Gallery, Tokyo 2005: Cohan and Leslie, New York Kanaz Forest of Creation, Fukui, Japan 2004: Galerie Priska Pasquer at Paris Photo 2005: Cui Cui, Quarter, Florence, Italy (book) 2005: Aila + Cui Cui + the eyes, the ears, Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris (book: the eyes, the ears) Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan, Italy 2005/06: Aila + the eyes, the ears, Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen, Denmark Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, Sweden Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, Sweden 2006: Rinko Kawauchi, The Photographers' Gallery, London."Rinko Kawauchi, 5 May – 9 July 2006, The Photographers' Gallery"