DNA

• Prize
  Silver in Fine Art/Minimalism
• Photographer
  Hajime Hirano
• Photo Date
  2024/10/24

The Ariake Sea in Kyushu is said to have the greatest tidal range in Japan. Many dramatic scenes unfold here. In my hometown Saga Prefecture, seaweed has been cultivated for a long time. In recent years, seaweed farming has been hit hard by rising sea temperatures caused by global warming.

My hometown, Saga Prefecture, is hidden famous production area of wheat in Japan. I have taken 80,000 photos of wheat fields for the past 8 years. By fascination of those vitality, I obtained a trademark registration for "mugigrapher®," means "a photographer specializing in wheat and barley" in Japanese. "Unusual always exists with usual days. Decay also exists with beauty." This perspective is connected to all of my photographic stances, including street snaps. I won "Sony World Photography Awards" 2023 Japan National Awards 1st Place and 2nd Place in the same category in 2024.