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1_WALL

8th “1_WALL” Photography

Today, modes of artistic expression are becoming increasingly diversified, and together with artists who wholeheartedly seek to express themselves in new ways, Guardian Garden aspires to be a venue for considering new expressive modes. This aspiration derives from our hope that artists will overcome any hurdles in their way by offering them a gallery wall where they can express themselves freely, through their works.

Judging Results

Final Round of Judging

Grand Prize

"child by the water"
Natsuki Kuroda
Born in 1988 / Graduated from Chuo University.
I can only wonder why I was so sure
when I used to sense a connection between myself and the world.
But everyone lives harboring somewhere
the small events that occurred as a child.

Final Round of Judging

The third and final round of judging is conducted open to public viewing. The six finalists give presentations of their works on display and their plans for their solo exhibition if they win the Grand Prize. The judges discuss the merits of each finalist’s portfolio, works shown, and presentation, and together decide the winner of the Grand Prize.

“1_WALL” Exhibition

A group exhibition is held spotlighting the six finalists to emerge from the second round of judging. Each finalist is allocated a gallery wall (approx. 3.85m wide and 2.5m high) to display their works. Besides the works themselves, the judges also take into consideration how the finalists use their overall display space and how they show their works.

Success in the Second Round of Judging

Finalists

  • "home"

    Riho Araki

    Born in 1980

    Completed research studies at Osaka University of Arts.

  • "picture"

    Naohiro Utagawa

    Born in 1981

    Graduated from Chuo University.

  • "child by the water"

    Natsuki Kuroda

    Born in 1988

    Graduated from Chuo University.

  • "A sign of repetition"

    Shinya Fukuda

    Born in 1986

  • "RADAR"

    Akira Matsumo

    Born in 1981

  • "still nameless scenery"

    Shantel Liao

    Born in 1988

Judges’ Encouragement Prizes

  • Yuji Hayashi

    Selected by Shin Akiyama

  • Asami Tsushima

    Selected by Risaku Suzuki

  • Shu Kojima

    Selected by Hiromi Tsuchida

  • Yuya Ozaki

    Selected by Kimi Himeno

  • Tamami Terasaki

    Selected by Rei Masuda

Second Round of Judging

A portfolio review is held one-on-one between each entrant and a judge. Here, the entrants are given the opportunity to directly explain the motives behind their works or their production process. After all portfolio reviews are completed, the judges assemble to discuss their assessments and select the six finalists.

Success in First Round of Judging

Entrants Who Successfully Passed the First Round of Judging

Portfolio Judging

Judging is performed based on entrants’ work files and data. The judges, all prominent in their respective fields – design, illustration, photography, etc. – plus members of the secretariat, render their judgments from various perspectives. Thirty entrants are selected to continue on to the second round of judging.

Judges

  • Shin Akiyama

    (Graphic designer, Publisher)

    Established schtucco in 2000. Established edition.nord in 2008. Involved in numerous photo and art books. 2013 included photo books by Taiji Matsue, Risaku Suzuki, and Takehiko Nakafuji, exhibition catalogs by Ohtake Shinro and Kodai Nakahara, and editions by Gozo Yoshimasu and Tadashi Kawamata.

  • Risaku Suzuki

    (Photographer)

    Born in Shingu, Wakayama, in 1963. In 2000 he received the 25th Kimura Ihei Award in Photography for “PILES OF TIME.” His recent publications include “Water Mirror” (Case Publishing / Fine-Art Photography Association), “SAKURA” (edition nord), “Étude” (SUPER LABO), “Between the Sea and the Mountain – Kumano ” (amanasalto), “Ishiki no nagare” [Stream of Consciousness] (edition nord) and “Atelier of Cézanne” (Nazraeli Press).

  • Hiromi Tsuchida

    (Photographer)

    Born in Fukui Prefecture in 1939. His major works include Zokushin (1976), Hiroshima (1985), Counting Grains of Sand (1990) and BERLIN (2011). In 2008 he won the Domon Ken Award. Collections of his works are found at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, etc.

  • Kimi Himeno

    (Principal and director of AKAAKA Art Publishing)

    Established AKAAKA Art Publishing in 2006. To date the company has published more than 200 books, mainly photo books and art books. Publications include many recipients of the Kimura Ihei Award: Lieko Shiga (“CANARY” 2007); Atsushi Okada (“I am” 2007); Masashi Asada (“Asadake” 2008); Cozue Takagi (“MID” 2009; “GROUND” 2009); Arata Dodo (“Taigan” 2012); Ryuichi Ishikawa (“A Grand Polyphony” 2014; “okinawan portraits 2010-2012” 2014); and Aya Fujioka (“Here Goes River” 2017). Since 2018 she is also a professor at Osaka University of Arts.

  • Rei Masuda

    (Chief curator at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo)

    Born in Kobe in 1968. Completed the graduate course in Area Studies at the University of Tsukuba. Since 1992 he has worked at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT). Among exhibitions he has curated in recent years are: “Josef Koudelka Retrospective” (2013), “Narahara Ikko: Domains” (2014), and “Thomas Ruff” (2016).