Kosuke Okahara
Illustration — Kosuke Okahara, 2015 Kosuke Okahara (岡原功祐, Okahara Kōsuke; born February 15, 1980) is a Japanese artist based in Tokyo.
Kosuke Okahara
- Born
- 1980 · Tokyo.
- Nationality
- Japan
- Occupation
- photographer · photojournalist
- Education
- Waseda University
- Languages
- Japanese
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Kosuke Okahara, 2015 Kosuke Okahara (岡原功祐, Okahara Kōsuke; born February 15, 1980) is a Japanese artist based in Tokyo.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Kosuke Okahara (born 1980) is a photographer and photojournalist, of Japanese nationality. The photographer was born in Tokyo. Kosuke Okahara was educated at Waseda University. Languages used include Japanese.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Kosuke Okahara. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q11471981 · wikipedia · Kosuke Okahara
In this article
Early life
Early life
He studied education at Waseda University before starting his practice as an artist. His scroll book Vanishing Existence was included in the collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library) in Munich. He is represented by Polka Galerie, Paris.
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• 2026 · Slightly Elsewhere, Polka Galerie, Paris, France • 2024 · Vanishing Existence, Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France (17 September – 8 December 2024) • 2019 · Ibasyo, Kyotographie, Kyoto, Japan • 2019 · Ibasyo book project, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan • 2018 · Ibasyo book project, Mirage Gallery, Kobe, Japan • 2017 · Rhapsody in the dark, Photo Festival de Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Brieuc, France • 2016 · Fragments/Fukushima, Polka Galerie, Paris, France • 2016 · Fragments/Fukushima, Maison de la culture du Japon, Paris, France • 2016 · Fragments/Fukushima, Espace Kuu, Tokyo, Japan • 2016 · Fragments/Fukushima, Mt. Rokko International Photo Festival, Kobe, Japan • 2015 · Almost Paradise, Only Photography, Berlin, Germany • 2015 · Fragments/Fukushima, Photo Antalya, Antalya, Turkey • 2013 · Surviving for existence, Photo Festival de Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Brieuc, France • 2011 · Ibasyo, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands • 2009 · Ibasyo, Noorderlicht, Groningen, Netherlands
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions
• 2022 · Photobooks. Art page by page, Grassi Museum, Leipzig, Germany • 2021 · blue affair, Hong Kong International Photo Festival • 2020 · Vertiges des jours, Polka Galerie, Paris, France • 2019 · Magnum Live Lab, Kyotographie, Kyoto, Japan • 2018 · Terres des Îles, Polka Galerie, Paris, France • 2017 · SHOWCASE, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany • 2015 · 100 years of Leica Photography, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany • 2015 · Emerging, Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, USA • 2014 · 100 years of Leica Photography, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany • 2011 · Kosuke Okahara et Jehsong Baak, Galerie KJB, Paris, France • 2011 · Vanishing Existence, Polka Galerie, Paris, France • 2011 · Ibasyo, Photo Quai, Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris, France • 2010 · Ibasyo, Fotografia, Rome, Italy • 2010 · Vanishing Existence, Gallery 21, Tokyo, Japan • 2009 · Chance, Polka Galerie, Paris, France • 2009 · Ibasyo, Sony World Photography Award, Aperture Gallery, New York, USA • 2009 · Almost Paradise, Editors' Choice, Ricoh Ring Cube, Tokyo, Japan • 2009 · Vanishing Existence, Prix Kodak de la Critique Photographique, Paris, France • 2006 · Resistance –Darfur Conflict–, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan • 2005 · Resistance –Darfur Conflict–, Kyushu University Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Art fairs
Art fairs
• 2025 · Paris Photo, Polka Galerie • 2022 · Paris Photo, Polka Galerie • 2021 · Paris Photo, Polka Galerie • 2019 · Paris Photo, Only Photography • 2019 · AIPAD, Only Photography • 2018 · AIPAD, Only Photography • 2017 · Paris Photo, Only Photography • 2017 · AIPAD, Only Photography • 2016 · AIPAD, Only Photography • 2015 · Paris Photo, Only Photography • 2010 · Tokyo Photo, Gallery 21
Identity
Identity
Kosuke Okahara is recorded with the occupation photojournalist. Recorded as photographer and photojournalist.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1980
Kosuke Okahara was born on 1 January 1980.
Artist books and monographs
• Artist books • Vanishing Existence, 2nd edition. THE BACKYARD, 2024. • Vanishing Existence, Oban edition. 2016. • Ibasyo Book Journey. Handependent, 2014. (not for sale) • Vanishing Existence, Special edition. Backyard Project, 2013. • Vanishing Existence. Backyard Project, 2013. • Monographs • Ibasyo. Japan: Kousakusha, 2018. • Fukushima Fragments. France: Éditions de la Martinière, 2015. • Almost Paradise. Only Photography, Germany, 2014. • Contact #1 –Any given day–. KOW, Japan, 2013.
Film festivals
• 2021 · blue affair, Official Selection, International competition, Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival • 2021 · blue affair, Official Selection / Best Contemporary Experimental Short, Sapporo International Short Film Festival • 2021 · blue affair, Jury's Special Mention, Short Film Competition, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival • 2021 · blue affair, Official Selection, LAB Competition, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival • 2021 · blue affair, Official Selection, New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival • 2021 · blue affair, Official Selection, Bueu International Short Film Festival • 2021 · blue affair, Les Nuits Photo
Public collections
Public collections
• Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France • Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany • F11 Foto Museum, Hong Kong • Museum of Dreams, London, Canada • Kindai University, Osaka, Japan • Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Nagano, Japan
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Kosuke Okahara”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q11471981: Kosuke Okahara
General reference · Wikidata
Awards and grants
• 2024 · Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation Travel Grant • 2024 · Japan Artists Association Production Grant • 2022 · Regional Prize – Asia, Open format category, World Press Photo • 2021 · Best Contemporary Experimental Short, 16th Sapporo International Short Film Festival • 2021 · Jury's Special Mention, 20th Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival • 2017 · Saint-Brieuc Festival Grant • 2014 · Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Award • 2013 · Saint-Brieuc Festival Grant • 2012 · Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography • 2012 · Finalist, European Publishers Award • 2010 · Fellowship, W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund • 2009 · World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass (first Japanese selected) • 2009 · PDN's 30 emerging photographers to watch • 2009 · Special Mention, Prix Kodak de la Critique Photographique • 2009 · Overseas Training Grant for Emerging Artists, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese Government • 2005 · Grand Prize, 6th Ueno Hikoma Award
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Exhibition: SHOWCASE – Artists' books. 2017-07-09.
- 2.Polka Galerie. Kosuke Okahara Biography.
- 3.Polka Galerie. Kosuke Okahara Biography.
- 4.Musée Cernuschi. Vanishing existence.
- 5.Bio – KOSUKE OKAHARA STUDIO.
- 6.Kosuke Okahara – Festival Photoreporter.
- 7.Kunsthal Rotterdam. Ibasyo – Kosuke Okahara. 2011-03-19.
- 8.Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. SHOWCASE – Artists' books.
- 9.Deichtorhallen Hamburg. Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography.
- 10.Bio – KOSUKE OKAHARA STUDIO.
- 11.1854 Photography. Recurring dreams of a strange town in Okinawa.
- 12.Musée Cernuschi. Vanishing existence.
- 13.Museum of Dreams. Blue Affair By Kosuke Okahara.
- 14.Bio – KOSUKE OKAHARA STUDIO.
- 15.Bio – KOSUKE OKAHARA STUDIO.
- 16.World Press Photo. Kosuke Okahara.
- 17.Award-winning photographer vows to continue work with Colombia's drug gangs. The Japan Times. 2015-02-04.
- 18.Getty Awards $80,000 to Four Photojournalists at Perpignan. Time. 2012-09-06.
- 19.Darcy Padilla receives $30,000 W. Eugene Smith photography grant.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Studied at
1- Waseda UniversityOrganisation
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Kostas GousgounisPhotographer
- Kostas KolokythasPhotographer
- Kostas VasileiouPhotographer
- Kostiantyn LiberovPhotographer
- Kōtarō TanakaPhotographer
- Kourosh SotoodehPhotographer
- Koutaiba Al JanabiPhotographer
- Kōyō IshikawaPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Kosuke Okahara?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.