ZEN FOTO GALLERY

Born in Tokyo in 1987, Hiroyoshi Taira graduated from the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, Hosei University. Working as a freelance photographer, he has pursued long-term projects rooted in personal history and connections to place, including the people living along the Arakawa River and his ancestral home of Miyakojima, Okinawa. In recent years, he has focused on Zomeki, a body of work photographing Awa Odori in Tokushima and Koenji, Tokyo.

Beginning with his encounter with Koenji’s Awa Odori in 2011, Taira became drawn to the powerful sounds and energy of the dance, as well as its connection to mourning and remembrance. In Awa Odori, dance and music are performed to console the spirits of the dead, and through Zomeki, Taira explores the ways in which memory, grief, and human bonds are transformed into sound and movement. The series received the Grand Prix in the Under 40 category of Limelight 2024 and was published as a photobook by Gallery Niépce in 2025. It was selected for KG+SELECT 2026.