Hiroyo Kaneko

Hiroyo Kaneko is a freelance photographer, currently based in San Francisco, California. She was born in Aomori in northern Japan and lived there until she was ten years old. In 1987, Kaneko graduated with a BA in French Literature in Tokyo and eventually moved to California where she received her MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. She exhibits extensively, primarily in California and throughout Japan.

Her subject matter is unmistakably Japan. For a few months each year, Kaneko revisits the place where she spent her early childhood in the remote, rural region of Tohoko, Japan. Here she positions herself as the objective onlooker with an artistic view depicting the rough countryside. She uses a soft light that lends a seductive sensibility further showing her love of nature and her homeland.

Hiroyo Kaneko’s photographs are in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and in the Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco. In 2009, she was awarded the Santa Fe Prize for Photography.

The response to the competition each year has been exciting and brought many talented photographers’ work to the attention of the Museum’s curatorial staff. With the competition, we have added work of twelve very talented arts both experienced and emerging. Limited edition prints of this photograph are available at a cost of $600.

For more information contact:: Photography Portfolio Competition; The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; P.O. Box 7646; Philadelphia, Pa 19101-7646; E-mail: twcpma@philamuseum.org; Telephone: 215-684-7936