2010 marks the 20th year of the New Cosmos of Photography. With the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, the New Cosmos of Photography has turned out a great number of photographers who have been highly successful inside and outside Japan. From now on it will continue to turn out representative photographers of the current century. In 2010, we welcome five new judges, three photographers with New Cosmos of Photography award experience (Katsumi Omori, Masafumi Sanai, and Mika Ninagawa), and two art and photo critics (Noi Sawaragi and Minoru Shimizu).
Katsumi Omori
Photographer. Born in Hyogo prefecture in 1963. Dropped out of the Photography Department of Nihon University's College of Art. A book containing a portfolio of his travels with the French rock band Mano Negra's Latin American tour, "GOOD TRIPS, BAD TRIPS," was selected by the two judges Robert Frank and Kotaro Iizawa to receive the Excellence Award in the New Cosmos of Photography 1994 (the 9th competition). Subsequently, he has continued releasing photo books, exhibitions, and slideshows of his work. The major photo books are salsa gumtape (1998 Little More Co., Ltd.), encounter (2005 match and company, inc.), Sanayora (2006 Aiikusha Co., Ltd.), and Incarnation (2009 match and company, inc.).
Masafumi Sanai
Photographer. New Cosmos of Photography 1995 (the 12th competition) Excellence Award winner. Already leading his generation of photographers, he has published many photo books. His 2002 photo book MAP won the 28th Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award. In 2008 he started up his own photo book imprint called "TAISHOU," and in December 2009 he released "Custom Chair Album," his ninth photo.
Noi Sawaragi
Art critic. His first collection of criticisms, Simulationism shed light on cultural movements of the 1990s and generated considerable controversy. His book Japan/Modernity/Art characterized postwar Japan as "a bad place," and it redefined Japan's art history and art criticism from the bottom up. He also wrote World Wars and World Fairs, a critical reassessment of the 1970 Osaka World Fair, and numerous other works. In recent years, he has been involved in a reevaluation of Taro Okamoto and a reconsideration of war record paintings. Currently, he is an associate professor at Tama Art University, General Education, Faculty of Art and Design.
Minoru Shimizu
Photo critic. Born in Tokyo in 1963. Since 1995, Shimizu's work as a critic has involved mainly contemporary art and photography. In 1995, he received the 1st Koen Shigemori Award for Photography Criticism for The Photographic Invisible: James Welling. His main works of translation are Gerhard Richter: Photo Essay/Picture Essay (1996 Tankosha Publishing Co., Ltd.), and Karlheinz Stockhausen: Texte zur elektronischen und instrumentalen Musik Band 1963 (1999 Gendaishichoshinsha Co., Ltd.). Among his books are Feminine Contemporary Art Forever (2002 Tankosha Publishing Co., Ltd.), Photos in Black and White... (2004), Photos and Every Day (2006), Everyday Ordinary Photos (2009, were published by Gendaishichoshinsha Co., Ltd.).
Mika Ninagawa
Photographer. After winning the New Cosmos of Photography 1996 (the 13th competition) Excellence Award, she also won the 26th Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award (2001), and many other awards. She made her debut as a full length film director in 2007 with Sakuran. She has released over 40 photo books, with her latest being FLOWER ADDICT (2009 Bijutsu Shuppan Holdings Co., Ltd.), and a "mook" photo book, NINAGAWA SHANGHAI 2010 (2010 MdN.). In November 2008, she held a solo exhibition titled "Mika Ninagawa: Earthly Flowers, Heavenly Colors" at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, followed by a tour of Japan. As of December 8, 2009, 160,000 attendees had been recorded (total excluding The Museum of Art, Kochi,).
http://ninamika.com (PC) http://ninamika-m.com (mobile)
http://tomiokoyamagallery.com (Tomio Koyama Gallery)
