Born in 1979, Hideka Tonomura graduated from the Broadcasting and Filmmaking Department of Osaka Visual Arts School and began photography in 2002. She published her first photobook “Mama Love” in 2008 with Akaaka Art Publishing, revealing her deepest pain and the dark, hidden secrets of her family, which made an unforgettable impression on the public. In 2013 she published “They Called Me Yukari” with Zen Foto Gallery, in which she documented the life and people around her when she worked as a hostess in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. Her other publications include “Orange Elephant” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2015), “cheki” (Morel Books, 2018), “Die of Love” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2018), “SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2020), “mama 恋 love” [New Edition] (Zen Foto Gallery, 2021) and “Toxic” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2022).

Actively presenting her work in and out of Japan, her major solo exhibitions include “Unlucky Family”, Nikon Salon, Tokyo and Osaka (2004); “Tonomura Hideka Shageki –0305–”, Uplink, Tokyo (2005); “Viva Hostess’s Life”, Club Ginko, Tokyo (2007); “mama 恋 love”, Trunk Gallery 81, Seoul (2011); “They called me Yukari / mama 恋 love”, Zen Foto Gallery (2013); “orange elephant”, Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo and Galeria About Art, Spain (2016); “die of love”, Zen Foto Gallery (2018); “SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty”, Zen Foto Gallery (2020) and Okayama Gender Equality Promotion Center, Okayama (2021); “Shining Woman Project at Kyotographie 2022” (2022); and “Love”, Zen Foto Gallery (2022). Her major group exhibitions include “Shikijo: Eroticism in Japanese Photography”, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong (2016); Daiwa Foundation Japan House Gallery, London (2018); “10/10 Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Women Photographers”, Kyotographie (2022) and “Love Songs”, Maison Européenne de la Photographie (2022).

Tonomura launched the “SHINING WOMAN PROJECT” in 2019, a portrait project dedicated to women fighting cancer. In 2022, her debut work “Mama Love” was collected by the MEP – La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris.

Selected Publications

2008 "mama 恋 love" AKAAKA Art Publishing Inc., Japan
2013 "They called me Yukari" Zen Foto Gallery, Japan
2015 "orange elephant" Zen Foto Gallery, Japan
2018 "cheki" Morel Books, UK
2018 "die of love" Zen Foto Gallery, Japan
2020 "SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty" Zen Foto Gallery, Japan
2021 "mama 恋 love" (new edition) Zen Foto Gallery, Japan
2022 "Toxic" Zen Foto Gallery, Japan
2023 "They called me Yukari" (new edition) Zen Foto Gallery, Japan

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2004 "Unlucky Family", Nikon Salon, Tokyo & Osaka
2005 "Tonomura Hideka Shageki -0305-", UPLINK, Tokyo
2007 "Viva Hostess’ s Life", Club Ginko, Tokyo
2011 "mama 恋 love", trunk gallery81, Seoul, Korea
2013 "They called me Yukari / mama 恋 love", Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo
2016 "orange elephant", Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo
2016 "orange elephant", Galería About Art, Pontevedra, Spain
2018 "die of love", Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo
2020 "SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty", Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo
2021 "Paint Cheki", Place M, Tokyo
2021 "SHINING WOMAN #cancerbeauty", Okayama Gender Equality Promotion Center, Okayama
2022 "SHINING WOMAN PROJECT at KYOTOGRAPHIE 2022", KYOTOGRAPHIE, Kyoto
2022 "Love", Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo
2023 "They called me Yukari", Zen Foto Gallery, Japan

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008 "THE EXPOSED #3", G/P Gallery, Tokyo
2009 "THE EXPOSED #4", CASO, Osaka
2009 "Editors’ Choice", Ring Cube Ricoh Gallery, Tokyo
2009 "8 Photographers Experiment", AKAAKA, Tokyo
2011 Japan India Global Partnership Summit, The Prince Park Tower, Tokyo
2012 Nofound Photo Fair, Paris
2013 TOKYO PHOTO
2013 FOTOFEVER, Paris
2014 FOTOFEVER, Paris
2015 Cork Photo, Ireland
2015 FOTOFEVER, Paris
2016 "Shikijo: eroticism in Japanese photography", Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
2017 "i am an ‘object’", Zen Foto Gallery, Tokyo
2018 "Double Method", Daiwa Foundation Japan House Gallery, London
2020 "Photobook and Print", La Galerie Paris 1839, Hong Kong
2021 "Women are fashioning", Jimei×Arles International Photo Festival, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre Xiamen, China
2022 "10/10 Celebrating Contemporary Japanese Women Photographers", KYOTOGRAPHIE, Kyoto
2022 "Love Songs", Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris

Awards

Nikon Juna21

Collections

2022 Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris

Gallery Exhibitions

Publications & Prints

SignedNew

TOXIC

Hideka TONOMURA

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