Ken Ohara (b. 1942) was born in Tokyo, Japan. After briefly studying photography at Nihon University, Ohara moved to New York City at the age of 19. From 1966 to 1970, he worked as an assistant for Richard Avedon and Hiro. In 1970, his first book ONE earned support from The Museum of Modern Art’s photography curator John Szarkowski. In 1974, His work was featured in “New Japanese Photography,” a groundbreaking survey show at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. From 1974 to 1975 He was a recipient of a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, and for the following 15 years he worked as a commercial photographer. In the 1990s, Ohara reemerged as an artist and participated in the “Ghost in the Shell: Photography and the Human Soul,” a 1999/2000 project at Los Angeles Country Museum of Art curated by Robert Sobieszek. In 2006/2007, the retrospective exhibition “Ken Ohara: Extended Portrait Studies” was held at Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany and traveled to two other German museums.
1942 Born in Tokyo, Japan
1961-1962 Studied Photography at Nihon University, Tokyo
1962 Relocated to New York City
1963-1966 Studied at Art Students League, New York
1966-1970 Worked with Richard Avedon Studio and Hiro Studio, Inc., New York
1970-1971 Freelance photographer for Harper’s Bazaar
1974-1975 Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography
1973-1983 Technical Director, Menken Seltzer Studios, New York
1983 Established Ohara Studio, New York
1988 Relocated to Glendale, California, established Ohara Studio, Glendale
Solo Exhibitions
2017
Ken Ohara Extreme Portraits 1970-1999, MIYAKO YOSHINAGA Gallery, New York, NY
2006-2007
Ken Ohara Extended Portrait Studies (Traveling exhibition); Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; Stadtische Galerie Wolfsburg, Germany; Fotomuseum in Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
2006
with, Stephen Cohen Galley, Los Angeles, CA
2000
Stephen Cohen Galley, Los Angeles, CA
1996
Artgraph Gallery Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
1986
Shadai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1979
Nikon Salon Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
1971
Asahi Pentax Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1970
Sony Building Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Group Exhibitions
2019
A History of Photography: Selections from the Museum’s Collection , The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Snap + Share: transmitting photographs from mail art to social networks , San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
2012-2013
Thomas Walther Photography Collection, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, Dessau-Robau, Germany
2010
State of mind, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego
2009
Deux temps, Trois mouvements, GwinZegal/ Center for Visual Art, Plouha, France
Shibui: Six Japanese Photographers, 1920s to 2000, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008-2010
This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in Los Angeles Photographs (Traveling exhibition); Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marina, CA; Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
2008
Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography (Traveling exhibition); Tate Modern, London, UK; Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Kopf an Kopf, Kunsthalle Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
2005-2006
Self, Craftspace (Traveling exhibition); Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, UK; Bury St. Edmunds Gallery, Bury St. Edmunds, UK; Piece Hall Art Gallery, Halifax, UK; McManus Gallery, Dundee, UK
2004
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
2002
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
2001
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1999
The Ghost in the Shell, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
1997
Museum of Design, Zurich, Switzerland
1993
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
1974
New Japanese Photography, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (Traveling exhibition); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; San Francisco Art Museum, San Francisco, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO; Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
Collections
Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Hallmark Collection, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA
Fotomuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
Bauhaus Dessau Foundation Collection/ Museum, Dessau, Germany
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
Kawasaki Municipal Museum, Kanagawa, Japan
Shadai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Sahshi-Kosha, Tokyo, Japan
Taschen Verlag, Cologne, Germany
Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics, Tokyo, Japan
Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
Monographs
Ken Ohara; Extreme Portraits 1970-1999, MIYAKO YOSHINAGA, 2017
Ken Ohara; Extended Portrait Studies since 1970, Steidl
with - Ken Ohara, Twin Palms Publishing, 2006
ONE - Ken Ohara - #31 of “One Picture Book”, Nazraeli Press, 2005
one - ken ohara, Taschen Verlag. 1997
ONE - KEN OHARA, Tsukiji Shokan, 1970
Lectures
New School for Social Research, New York, NY
The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics, Tokyo, Japan
Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan
California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA