Bio
Bio of Q. Sakamaki
Q. Sakamaki was born and grew up in Japan before moving to New York in 1986. For the first several years in the town, he covered many of American cultural scenes to Japanese media, more as writer than photographer. However, soon he encountered a series of radical anti-gentrification protests in New York’s Lower Eastside that was called “Tompkins Square Park Movement.” Living in the center of the area, he naturally, intensively started to photograph the socially, politically up-heaved movement. Since then he has served his energy more on photography especially for the socio-photo-documentary, focusing on human rights.
In the mid-1990s, his photographic interests started to move to more international affairs. He has been photographing war zones and other facets of human conditions in many parts of the world, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Kosovo, Haiti, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Turkey, Georgia, etc.
Such commitment led him to receive many awards, including a World Press Photo (1st Prize of People in News Story - 2007), two Overseas Press Club awards (Olivier Rebbot - 2007 and Feature Photography - 2010) and two Days Japan International Photojournalism awards. Sakamaki’s photographs have appeared in books and magazines worldwide and have been the subject of solo shows in New York and Tokyo, and his work of Liberian child soldiers has appeared in a media campaign for the prevention. He has published five books, including the two latest ones; “WAR DNA”, covering seven deadly conflicts, published in Japan in 2007 and “Tompkins Square Park” published by PowerHouse Books, in the 20th anniversary of the event in 2008 that was mentioned above. Sakamaki is also video-documenting. His footage of the Liberian war used in "Liberia: An Uncivil War" was nominated on the 26th Emmy Awards/ News & Documentary/ in 2005. He holds the master degree of International Affaires from Columbia University. He is represented by Redux Pictures.
Awards (main and recent ones)
2010 Feature Photography Award, Overseas Press Club.
2007 Olivier Rebbot Award, Overseas Press Club.
2007 World Press Photo, 1st Prize of People in News Story.
2007 Pictures of The Year International 1st Prize General News Reporting.
2007 Pictures of The Year International 1st Prize News Picture Story.
2007 Days Japan International Photojournalism Award Special Prize by Jury.
2006 NPPA, Honorable Mention, Domestic News.
2005 Days Japan International Photojournalism Award 2nd Prize.
2005 Emmy Award Nominated News & Documentary (cinema photography).
2002 JPS –Japan Professional Photographers Society – Award Bronze.
Exhibitions
2006 Collaboration: Exhibition of Human Trafficking, Varldskultur Museet, The Museum of World Culture, Goteborg, Sweden.
2003 The Iraq War, Yoga Salon, Tokyo.
2003 Liberian War, Clayton Gallery, New York.
1994 FIGHT AIDS!, Yoga Salon, Tokyo.
Teaching/ Workshop Instructor
2009/ 07 Intensive Workshop for advanced photography/ Tokyo Photography Museum.
2008/ 07 Intensive Workshop for advanced photography/ Tokyo Photography Museum.
Books
2008 "Tompkins Square Park" – PowerHouse Books, USA.
2007 "WAR DNA" – The coverage of seven deadly conflicts, Syogakukan, Japan.
2002 "Palestine" -- The issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syogakukan, Japan.
1996 "We Can't Live Without Guns" -- The issue on guns in US, Shinsensha, Japan.
1993 "FIGHT AIDS! " – The reportage on AIDS in US, Shinsensha, Japan.
Group Books
2009 "American Youth" – Contrast, Italy.
2008 "Child Soldiers" -- PowerHouse Books, USA.
Clients & Publications:
Donna di Repubblica, Human Rights Watch, L’espresso, LIFE, Mother Jones, Newsweek, Newsweek Japan, People Magazine, Readers Digest, Rolling Stone, Stern, Time, Time Asia, UNDP, Unicef, Wired, WFP, and many other European and Japanese Magazines.