Ohto Kaoru

Kaoru Ohto (b. 1927) played a key role in the development of Subjective Photography in Japan. She began taking photographs in 1949 and joined the Hiroshima Photo Salon the following year, where she studied under Kunio Masaoka of the Chugoku Photographers Group. Inspired by the German Subjective Photography movement founded by Otto Steinert, she began to create works that expressed her inner self. In 1955, her photographs were included in the group exhibition and photobook Subjective Photography 2 in Germany. In 1956, she joined the Japanese Subjectivism Photography Foundation and participated in the International Subjective Photography Exhibition held in Japan the same year. In 1958, two of her photographs were included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1959, she opened the photo studio Modern Photo in Hiroshima. In 1968, she joined the Nikakai Association of Photographers, and later became head of its Hiroshima branch.

*This text was contributed by Mitsuhiro Wakayama.
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