Rinko Kawauchi is a celebrated Contemporary photographer, known for her poetic depictions of everyday life, soft palette, and carefully edited photobooks. Born in Shinga, Japan, she went on to study photography and graphic design at the Seian University of Art and Design, graduating in 1993. After a period of working as a freelance photographer in advertising, Kawauchi released three photobooks of her personal work in 2001: UTATANE, HANABI, and HANOKO. She became a famed photographer almost overnight, and has gone on to release several more photobooks. Her work has been exhibited all over the world, including at the Foundation Cartier in Paris, The Photographer’s Gallery in London, the Museo de Arte Moderna in Sao Paulo, and White Cube in Kyoto, among many others.
She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 27th Ihei Kimura Photography Award, the International Center of Photography Infinity Award, and an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society. She was recently the Outstanding Contribution to Photography recipient of the Sony World Photography Awards 2023. She currently lives and works in Tokyo.