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Yoko Ishii is a Japanese-born artist, living in the suburbs of Tokyo. In March 2011, Ishii visited Nara after a long time and met deer who freely walked in the early morning town. It was two weeks after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and she remembered the TV news footage of abandoned cow roaming in the disaster area of Fukushima. Ishii started the project which draw a world with only deer by the timing and framing of the photo shooting. Her s hooting area gradually expanded nationwide from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south.
Her work has been shown internationally at exhibitions including Nikon Salon Ginza in 2016 in Japan, Stadthaus in Ulm in Germany in 2017 and Auckland Festival of Photography in New Zealand in 2019. Her work has been published numerous international magazines and websites including lensculture, European Photography Magazine, Le Monde, The Independent and Wired.com. Her photo book “Dear Deer” was published by Little More.
● Solo Exhibitions
Dec. 2023 “Dear Deer Noël” in Nara Mahoroba Kan in Tokyo, Japan
Nov. 2023 “Itten Shikai Deer Gathering” in Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Nara, Japan
Jun. 2022 “Shadows in Suburbia” in IG Photo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Sep. 2019 “Deer Planet” in Kiyoyuki Kuwabara Accounting Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
May 2019 “Deer Planet” in Auckland Festival of Photography, New Zealand
Jan. 2017 “Life” in Mirage Gallery, Kobe, Japan
Nov. 2016 “Dear Deer" in Nara Mahoroba Kan, Tokyo, Japan
Jan. /Feb. 2016 “Beyond the Border” in the Ginza / Osaka Nikon Salon, Japan
● Selected Group Exhibitions
Apr. 2023 "Abandoned Kingdoms" at Gallery Yougen Kyoto, Japan
Oct. 2022 “HPF Selection” in Hokkaido Photo Festa, Japan
Jul. 2022 Emerging Photographers at Nara City Museum of Photography, Japan
Aug. 2021 Duo Exhibition “Abandoned Kingdoms” at Aux Docks d'Arles, France
Nov. 2018 Yakushima Photography Festival
Sep. 2017 Stadthaus in Ulm, Germany
Jul. 2017 YPF in Arles, France
Dec. 2014 Closing night projection in the Angkor Photo Festival, Cambodia
Aug. 2014 Japanese Photography Showcase in OBSCURA Photo Festival, Malaysia
● Major Award
Lens Culture Street Photography Awards 2019, Juror's Pick by Rebecca Norris Webb