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