Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

From June 20 to July 20, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum showcases the winning works from one of the world’s most prestigious international photography competitions. Since its launch in 2007, the Sony World Photography Awards has championed photographers at every stage of their careers, providing a global platform for both emerging talent and established practitioners while celebrating the diversity and vitality of contemporary photographic practice. This Tokyo presentation adopts the thematic concept developed for the exhibition’s debut at Somerset House in London. Visitors are invited to engage with the award-winning photographs through three interconnected narratives: Absence, which reflects on memory, loss and erasure; Humans in the Stories, focusing on the immediacy and complexity of lived experience; and Conflicted Territories, examining borders, divisions and the political and social tensions that shape today’s world. By placing the works in dialogue with one another, the exhibition encourages viewers to consider broader global issues through photography’s uniquely evocative visual language. A special highlight is a presentation of works by Joel Meyerowitz, recipient of the 2026 Outstanding Contribution to Photography award. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of colour street photography, Meyerowitz has profoundly influenced the evolution of the medium through his luminous explorations of urban life, light and everyday experience. Displayed alongside this...

Food is one of the most universal aspects of human life, yet it’s also deeply personal, shaped by memory, place, community and social change. This summer, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum explores these connections in ‘Tomorrow’s Dining Table’, an exhibition drawn from the museum’s collection of approximately 39,000 photographic and moving-image works. Bringing together works by fourteen artists, including Rinko Kawauchi, Ikko Narahara, Tokuko Ushioda and Tatsumi Orimoto, the exhibition examines food as a lens through which to consider human relationships and contemporary society. Structured into four thematic sections, it traces the many meanings attached to eating and sharing meals. The opening chapter focuses on personal and family memories, presenting intimate photographic reflections on everyday dining experiences. ‘Between Food and Place’ shifts attention to the connections between food and local environments, from fishing communities to urban landscapes, highlighting how geography shapes culinary culture. ‘Within the Environment’ addresses pressing contemporary issues, including ecological change, food production and the long-term consequences of environmental disasters. The final section, ‘Tomorrow’s Dining Table’, considers the future of eating in an aging society marked by solitary living and changing social structures.