ZEN FOTO GALLERY

Hitomi Watanabe graduated from Tokyo College of Photography [Tokyo Sogo Shashin Gakko] in 1968. She presented her works titled “World of the Street Hawkers” in her graduating exhibition, and continued photographing and publishing the series in magazines such as “Shashin Graphic” and “Shashin Eizo”. Around the same time, when she was taking photos in the streets of Shinjuku, she encountered and began documenting the Zen-kyoto student movement. In 1972, she began travelling through Asia. During her visit to India and Nepal, she felt she had found the home of her soul, and decided to extend her stay. Since returning to Japan, her photography has become essentially a spiritual documentation aimed at conveying a message to the living spirits. Her publications include “Tenjiku” (Yasosha, 1983), “Mohita’s Dream Journey” (Kaiseisha, 1986), “The Era of Monkeys” (Shinchosha, 1994), “Myths of the West” (Chuokoronsha, 1997), “Open, Lotus” (Shuppanshinsha, 2001), “The Monkey Philosopher” (Shuppanshinsha, 2003), “Photo Documentation: Todai Zenkyoto 1968–69” (Shinchosha, 2005), “1968 Shinjuku” (Machikarasha, 2014), “Tokyo University 1968–1969—Behind the Blockade” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2015), “Tekiya” (Jiyusha, 2017), and “Lotus” (Yasosha, 2024). Watanabe’s solo exhibitions “Early Works: Seasons of Zenkyōtō” were held at Nikon Salon Ginza and Nikon Salon Osaka in 2007. She participated in different group exhibitions including “1968 in Japanese Photography” at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in 2013; “1968: A Time Filled with Countless Questions” at National Museum of Japanese History in 2017; “1968: Art in the Turbulent Age” at Chiba City Museum of Art in 2018; “Provoke: Opposing Centrism” at Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts; “Absolute Chairs” at Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. Her works were included in the exhibition “I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now” at Les Rencontres d’Arles (2024), which has continued on an international tour including The Hague (2025), Frankfurt (2025), London (2026) and New York (2026). The exhibition was expanded for a special version, organised by Bunkamura in Tokyo (2026).