is a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese-born

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

based in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography The is an art museum concentrating on photography. As the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, it was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo. The museum also ...

, editor. . Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. He is the founder of children's charity Friends Without a Border, for which he has received two awards. He has also been awarded for his photography.

Life

Izu attended

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

College of Art in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

from 1969-1972. After moving to the United States in 1972, he spent two years working as a photo assistant in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and subsequently established his own studio, specializing in still life photography. Since 1979, in addition to his well established commercial work, Kenro began his serious professional commitment to his fine art photography, traveling the world to capture the sacred ancient stone monuments in their natural settings. He traveled and documented

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

(

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

). He has also focused on

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

monuments in

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Through them, he captures profound beauty with natural states of decay. Izu is the recipient of the 2007 Lucie Awards’ Visionary Photographer award, and was published by En Foco's photographic journal ''Nueva Luz.''

Charity work

In 1996, Izu founded Friends Without a Border, an organization devoted to raising funds for children’s hospitals in

. Profits from select prints sales and his book, ''Light Over Ancient Angkor,'' are donated to this cause. In 2007, Izu was awarded the Pacesetter Award from New York Hospital Queens, the highest award presented by the medical center. Kenro was honored at NYHQ's "A Spring Night Gala" for his leadership and humanitarian efforts to heal, nurture, and protect innocent life in Cambodia. Also in 2007, Kenro was the recipient of the Honorary Visionary Award by the Lucie Awards. In 2014, Izu was given a World of Children Award. The award has been called the "

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

for Child Advocates", and is the only global recognition honoring individuals for serving vulnerable children worldwide.

Awards and fellowships

* 2018 The Medal of Light, The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand * 2014 Health Award by World of Children Awards, New York, NY * 2011 Lucca Photo Award, Lucca Photo Fest, Italy * 2007 Pacesetter Award by New York Hospital, Queens. NY * 2007 Visionary Award by Lucie Awards * 2005 Visual Award by Center for Photography of Art, Woodstock, NY * 2002 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship * 2000 Cultural Promotion Award by Photographic Society of Japan * 1999 Lou Stoumen Prize for Photography * 1985 New York Foundation of Arts * 1984 National Endowment of Arts * 1981 Catskill Center Photography Fund

Publications

* „Nueva Luz photographic journal”, Volumes 12#2 (2007), an
1#1
(1984) * ''Light Over Ancient Angkor'', published by Friends Without A Border (1996) * ''Still Life'', published by ARENA Editions (1998) * ''Light over Sacred Places of Asia'', published by K*MoPA (2001) * ''Sacred Places'', published by ARENA Editions (2001) * ''Passage to Angkor'', published by Channel Photographics (2003) * ''Blue'', published by Howard Greenberg Gallery (2004) * ''BHUTAN sacred within'', published by Nazraeli Press (2007) * ''Kenro Izu-30th year retrospective'' by Nazraeli Press (2010) * ''BLUE'', six by six book by Nazraeli Press (2012) * ''Kenro Izu/Territori dello spirito'', by Fondazione Fotografia Modena/Skira (2014) * ''Songs of Lao'', Nazraeli Press (2016) * ''Eternal Light'', Steidle (2018) * ''Seduction'', Damiani (2018) * ''Pompeii-Requiem'', Fondazione Fotografia Modena/Skira (2019) * ''Requiem'', Nazraeli Press (2019)

Notes

External links

Izu on En Foco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Izu, Kenro 1949 births Photographers from Osaka Japanese photographers Living people