This symposium examines the current state of photographic practices in Japan and Korea, focusing on the changing environment surrounding emerging photographers and the relationship between photography, society, and institutional frameworks.

■ Speaker:
Yoshiaki Kai (Photo Historian)
Aya Fujioka (Photographer / Lecturer, Kyoto University of the Arts)
Hirotsugu Horii (Photographer / Lecturer, Kyoto University of the Arts)
Jung Hoon (Photographer / Director of K-Youth)
Yuki Nakazawa (Program Director, KG+)

◾️Event Details
Apr 25 (Sat), 15:00–17:30
Admission: Free
No reservation required
Language: Japanese / Korean

Yoshiaki Kai（Photo Historian / Researcher）
Associate Professor, Institute of Education and Research, Humanities and Social Sciences, Niigata University. Specializes in art history, aesthetics, and art theory.
An Associate Professor at Niigata University whose expertise lies in the history of photography as well as art history and visual culture studies. He focuses on modern and contemporary photographic expression, examining the relationship between art and society from a theoretical perspective. In addition to his research, he also gives lectures and talks on photographic theory and contemporary art.
Website

Aya Fujioka（Photographer）
Born in 1972 in Kure, Hiroshima. Graduated from the Department of Photography, College of Art, Nihon University. After graduation, she studied abroad in Taiwan to learn Mandarin, then continued photographing while traveling through Europe, Brazil, and other places. In 2007, she stayed in New York through the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists. She returned to Japan in 2013 and has been based in Hiroshima. Her photobook Kawa wa yuku (The River Goes), capturing present-day Hiroshima 70 years after the end of WWII, received the 41st Ina Nobuo Award (2017), the Hayashi Tadahiko Award (2018), and the Kimura Ihei Memorial Photography Award. She received the Hiroshima Culture Encouragement Award in 2019, the 39th Higashikawa New Photographer Award in 2023, and the Hiroshima Culture Award in 2024. Her photobooks include Teach Me Goodbye (Visual Arts), I Do Not Sleep, The River Goes, and Life Studies (Akaaka). She has held numerous solo exhibitions in Japan and abroad.
Website

Hirotsugu Horii（Photographer）
Photographer. Born in Shizuoka, Japan. Graduated from Waseda University School of Art and Architecture, Department of Spatial Imaging, Photography major. Recent major exhibitions include “Tobi Selection 2023” at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (2023). He won the Grand Prize at the Higashikawa International Photo Festival Portfolio Review (2013) and was a finalist for T3 NEW TALENT (Mid-career Artist Category) in 2025.
He explores a “thinking of closeness” that allows people to be together while holding differences—such as gender and faith—within the dynamics in which myths of family and love seek to bind individuals into sameness. In recent works, he has deepened his interest in forms of adjacent solitude not captured by sexuality, and in intimacies that emerge outside the narrative sphere of “family,” taking as his central issue a communality with others mediated through vulnerability.
Website

Hoong Chung（Photography Researcher）
Born in Seoul. After earning a B.A. and M.A. in Photography from Chung-Ang University, he obtained two master’s degrees at New York University (NYU) in Visual Arts Administration and Visual Culture Theory. He also earned a Ph.D. in Photography from Chung-Ang University.
He works widely as a curator and artistic director. Major roles include Main Exhibition Curator of the Daegu Photo Biennale (2021), Organizer and Moderator of the International Photography Symposium (2016), Artistic Director of Art:Gwangju:14 (2014), Exhibition Director of the Jeonju Photo Festival (2013), and Theme Exhibition Curator of the Seoul Photo Triennale (2005). Recent curated exhibitions include “Contingent Future Beginnings” (2024), “Ghost Memory: A Journey into Lost Time” (2025), and “Dry Land: A Liminal Cartography” (Kyoto, 2026). Across these projects, he pursues sustained inquiries into temporality and visual structures while working across photography, media art, and installation. He is currently Professor in the Department of Photography and Related Media at Keimyung University, and serves as President of the Society for Contemporary Photography and Imaging.

Yuki Nakazawa（KG+ Program Director）
Born in 1980. Graduated from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (2002) and Visual Arts Osaka (2004). Alongside his photographic practice, he has been broadly involved in the photography field through direction, coordination, publishing, school management, and the production/installation of photographic works. His major work series “Re:[ ]De:||” consists of a trilogy that takes the structures of photography and society as its form. Rooted in traditional photography while incorporating new technologies, it approaches photography through a contemporary art perspective and attempts to expand perception through the medium of photography. His direction work includes founding and running galleryMain (2010–2024), serving as Program Director of KG+ (the satellite event of KYOTOGRAPHIE) (2015–), and founding the photography project team Q (2025–), among others.