Megumi Otsuka
P h o t o g r a p h y
Megumi Otsuka is a photographer who keeps photographing "Surechigai".
Surechigai is a Japanese word which means people passing each other, and also means people misunderstanding each other. The reason why she continues to look at and photograph Surechigai in the streets of the city is because she herself has a strong desire to find the point where she will not misunderstand nor be misunderstood by the ones she loves. In most cases, there are strong ties between a person and their family members during one's childhood. But from adolescence, as the number of secrets we do not or will not tell increase, gaps in our relationships with others grow. Even if there is steadfast love at the bottom of our hearts towards others, we may feel frustrated when we can not truly understand each other, and a sense of emptiness and loneliness will seep into our hearts even when with or talking to the ones we love . This is especially true for relationships that start in adulthood, where each party may have secrets.
Whether one is on their way somewhere with a purpose or just wandering aimlessly, everyone has secrets and feels loneliness as well. A city is a place where many such people pass each other frequently. There is space between people that can never be filled completely, and a city is always full of Surechigai.
Upcoming & Current Exhibitions
Foto Nostrum, Barcelona, Spain : Barcelona Foto Biennale (collective exhibition), Dec.9-Jan.29
Other News
Published on Favorite Photograph Exhibition of Lenscratch
The places that carry the above photobooks
Shinshin Bldg. 3F, 1-3-5, Shinjuku,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0022, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3358-3974
Email: sokyusha@yahoo.co.jp
San Francisco, USA
Kunstkiosk im Helmhaus
Zurich, Switz.
Paris, France
CV
Megumi Otsuka is a Tokyo-based photographer who was born and raised in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. She started her street photography career after being inspired by Daido Moriyama's photobook Shinjuku. She then started participating in his workshops and teaching herself.
After film prices rose and her regular darkroom closed, she then experimented with digital cameras, but shooting the streets of Tokyo with monochrome film has always been her life's work for the past 18 years. After the Covid-19 pandemic ends, she is planning to travel abroad to shoot the streets of other major cities.
<Publications>
Shadow & Light in Tokyo (zine), Tour Dogs, USA, 2021
Ibiza (photobook), Sokyusha, Japan, 2014
Tokyo (photobook), Sokyusha, Japan, 2012
<Awards>
Honorable Mention, Paris International Street Photo Awards, Shadows & Reflection Category (series), 2021
Runner Up, 17th Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Non-Professional Section, Street Photography Category (series), 2021
Nominee, Black & White Spider Awards, Amateur Section, Fine Art Category, 2021
Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards, Non-Professional Section, Street Photography Category, 2021
Honorable Mention, New York Center for Photographic Art, Let's Play Competition (juror Crista Dix), 2021
Honorable Mention, PH21 Gallery, Portraits Without Faces Exhibition, 2021
2nd Place, 16th Pollux Awards, Street Photography Category (series, juror Stephen Perloff), 2021
Honorable Mention, New York Center for Photographic Art, Street Photography Competition (juror Michael Itkoff), 2020
Honorable Mention, 15th Pollux Awards, Non-Professional Section, Street Photography Category (single, juror Julio Hirsch-Hardy), 2020
Honorable Mention, MonoVisions Photography Awards, Street Photography Category (series), 2020
Finalist, Passepartout Photography Prize, 2020
<Exhibitions>
Auburn Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA : Black & White (juried group exhibition, juror Matt Harding), 2021
Foto Nostrum, Barcelona, Spain : Barcelona Foto Biennale (collective exhibition), 2021
A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX, USA : portal (juried group exhibition, juror Elizabeth Avedon), 2021
Stelio Crise State Library, Trieste, Italy : Tales of the Unwritten (collective exhibition), 2021
Trieste Airport (Trieste Photo Days Tour), Trieste, Italy, 2021
Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece : Cityscapes (juried group exhibition), 2021
PH21 Gallery, Budapest, Hungary : Portraits Without Faces (juried group exhibition), 2021
Chania International Photo Festival, Chania, Greece, 2021
Millepiani, Rome, Italy : Windows into the Virtual (juried group exhibition), 2021
Millepiani, Rome, Italy : Post-Industrialism (juried group exhibition), 2021
Millepiani, Rome, Italy : The Man and the Machine (juried group exhibition), 2020
PH21 Gallery, Budapest, Hungary : Motion (juried group exhibition, juror Zsolt Batori), 2020
KromArt Gallery , Rome, Italy : The Art of Photography (juried group exhibition held by PH21 Gallery, juror Zsolt Batori), 2020
Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR, USA : Dynamic: Shadow and Light (juried group exhibition, juror Todd Johnson), 2020
Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR, USA : Vision: Black and White (juried group exhibition, online annex, juror Todd Johnson), 2020
Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA : The Shadow Aspect (juried group exhibition, juror Ross Anderson), 2020
Sokyusha Gallery, Tokyo, Japan : Untitled (solo exhibition), 2008
Café gallery huit, Tokyo, Japan : Time Doesn't Stop (solo exhibition), 2006
Café gallery huit, Tokyo, Japan : Untitled (solo exhibition), 2005
Golden-gai Kodoji, Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo (solo exhibition), 2005
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<Published in>
Tales of the Unwritten (photographic volume), dotArt, Italy, 2021
Emergence 2 (zine), Glasgow Gallery of Photography, UK, 2021
Nippon Camera (magazine), Japan, 2006, 2012
Asahi Camera (magazine), Japan, 2008
nagare (magazine), Japan, 2007, 2008
<Published on>
Lenscratch, Favorite Photograph Exhibition, 2022