Syoin Kajii

Syoin Kajii was born in Niigata, Japan in 1976. His interest in photography began while attending junior high school and is self-taught. He graduated from the Shingon sect's Koyasan University in Mikkyo with a degree in Esoteric Buddhism in 1999. As a student he travelled around the world, visiting Britain and Papua New Guinea and followed the Mekong River upstream by canoe and bicycle in Cambodia. In 2000 he returned to Japan to serve as the resident monk (and his grandfather's successor) at a seaside Buddhist temple on the northern part of Sado Island, where he continues to pursue his career as a photographer. In 2004 he was awarded the 1st FOIL Award for his series of pictures in which he photographed a succession of waves on the shores of Sado. Following the FOIL Award, he published the photo book, Nami (wave), and was awarded the Rookie of the Year 2005 by The Photographic Society of Japan for 'this overwhelmingly energetic and spiritual' book. His current interest is photographing rural landscapes in Japan, with special emphasis on documenting the severe circumstances and difficult lives of older people who remain in hundreds of small villages that have been abandoned by younger people who prefer to live and work in large cities. In 2008 his Nami series was amongst finalists of the BMW Prize at Paris Photo. In 2009, he was honoured as Rookie of the Year by the Gotoh Memorial Foundation. His photographs have been exhibited and are held in collections worldwide, including Huis Marseille and the H+F Collection in Amsterdam.