Rinko Kawauchi
What is the Joy of the Future? / Fukushima prefecture, Japan
Rinko Kawauchi travelled to Fukushima Prefecture in 2019 to observe an Olympic Day Festa organised by the Japanese Olympic Committee, an event held each year at various venues in the Tōhoku region to connect Olympic athletes with communities affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The goal of this initiative was to contribute to the reconstruction process by inviting communities to take part in fun physical activity and to bring comfort to local children, their families and the elderly who have lived through these traumatic events. Since 2011, the Olympic Day Festa has been held at more than 122 venues in the five affected prefectures.
photo Gallery
2019 – IOC / Rinko Kawauchi - All Rights Reserved
Known for her poetic depictions of everyday life, Rinko Kawauchi photographed children in the Tōhoku region playing a variety of sports. Her sensitive images inspire hope for recovery and rebirth. They highlight the joy and healing that can be found in sport and the friendships that it forges, and serve as a reminder of the fragile and precious gifts of a nature that sustains all human life.
BIOGRAPHY
Rinko Kawauchi is a notable contemporary photographer born in 1972 in Japan. She is known for her poetic depictions of scenes from everyday life, her soft palettes and her carefully crafted photobooks. In 2001, she launched her career with the simultaneous publication of three critically acclaimed books: Utatane, Hanabi and Hanako. Since then, she has published more than 12 volumes of her work, including Illuminance (Aperture, 2011) and Ametsuchi (Aperture, 2013).
She won the 27th Kimura Ihei Photography Award (2002) and the International Center of Photography Infinity Award in Art (2009). She has had solo exhibitions at Fondation Cartier in Paris, the Photographers’ Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, among other venues. In 2012, she was one of four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. Rinko Kawauchi lives and works in Chiba.
