Georgia in focus in celebrated artist Koji Onaka’s new photo book

A new collection of photographs of Georgia taken by celebrated Japanese artist, Koji Onaka, will be presented to exhibition-goers in Tbilisi after a showcasing in Paris later this month.

Georgia is a new, mini photo book by award-winning photographer Onaka, who was among a group of Japanese artists featured at the Tbilisi Photo Festival last year.

Now, Onaka’s new book featuring photographs of locations and people across Georgia has been published as an insert in Japanese Kaido magazine.

The photo book ‘Georgia’ comes as an insert in the latest issue of ‘Kaido’ magazine founded by Onaka himself. Photo: Koji Onaka.

The catalogue of photographs debuted for public viewing at the Kodoji Bar in Tokyo on New Year.

This month it is scheduled to be on display in Paris, where Onaka’s works are currently shown at the Inbetween Art Gallery at exhibition, Memento vivre - from the road.

The publication features locations and people across Georgia. Photo: Koji Onaka.

Born in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture in 1960, Onaka graduated from the Tokyo Photographic College, now known as Tokyo Visual Arts.

He opened Gallery Kaido in Tokyo in 1988 and launched photo magazine, Kaido, in 2015.

Onaka has been featured in solo exhibitions at international galleries and venues including Fondation A Stichting in Brussels, Zeit Foto Salon in Tokyo and Librairie Photographique Le 29 in Paris.

Onaka featured among a group of Japanese photo artists at the 2016 Tbilisi Photo Festival. Photo: Koji Onaka.

The Japanese artist has published a number of photo books and essays on photographic art.

He has been awarded prizes including the 2006 New Photographer award by the Photographic Society of Japan and the 2002 Higashikawa Prize for Photography.

In September 2016 Onaka featured among eleven of the most prominent Japanese photographers at Tbilisi Photo Festival’s Contemporary Japanese Photography exhibition.