Kenro Izu  (American/Japanese, 1949) 

Kenro Izu (American/Japanese, b.1949) is a photographer originally from Osake, Japan. From 1969 to 1970, he studied photography at Nihon University, College of Arts, in Tokyo, Japan. In 1970, he relocated to New York, NY, and began working as a commercial photographer. Shortly after this, he was introduced to Francis Frith’s 19th-century photographs of Egypt. This discovery prompted him to travel to Egypt and take photographs of the pyramids, a trip that inspired all of his subsequent work. He has traveled all over the world, capturing the macro and micro details of exotic lands.

Izu’s work has been featured in exhibitions across the world. In 2012 alone, his work was exhibited at the Forma Galleria in Milan, Italy, the In Camera Galerie in Paris, France, and the Sarindia Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand. He has received widespread recognition for his work, and in 2007, he received the Visionary Award at the Lucie Awards. His work can be found in the permanent collections of institutions such as the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA, the Boston Museum of Art in Boston, MA, the Los Angeles County Museum in Los Angeles, CA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Tokyo, Japan. Izu is currently based in Rhinebeck, NY.