Amana Photographer Sakiko Ono Wins Excellence Award at 3rd GRAPHGATE

Sakiko Ono, a photographer at Amana Inc. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Gocho Kaneko), which specializes in creative solutions for communication transformation, has won an excellence award at the 3rd 'GRAPHGATE' audition for photo and video creators, organized by Canon Marketing Japan Inc.

This audition is held to discover and nurture the next generation of photography and video artists. After a rigorous selection process from entries across the country, one Grand Prix winner and four excellence award winners are chosen.

About 'GRAPHGATE' 'GRAPHGATE' is an audition organized by Canon Marketing Japan aimed at discovering and developing emerging photography and video artists. Entries are accepted in three categories: 'People,' 'Nature,' and 'Creative.'

Selections are made through three rounds, leading to the selection of excellence awards and honorable mentions, from which one Grand Prix winner is eventually decided. Award winners receive opportunities to exhibit their work at Canon Gallery S (Shinagawa) and Canon Gallery Ginza/Osaka, as well as support for their future activities, such as equipment support.

Award Details Sakiko Ono was selected for an excellence award in the 3rd 'GRAPHGATE'. As a supplemental prize, she will be given the opportunity to exhibit her work at Canon Gallery Ginza and Osaka.

About the Work (Comments from Sakiko Ono) 'My entry, 'Kazoku no Atosaki 2025' (Family Before and After 2025), is a project based on my personal experience with fertility treatment. While continuing treatment, the everyday landscape and things in sight seemed to emerge as metaphors, and I continued to shoot while navigating between that inner world and reality. Later, I also undertook portraits of families who had children after fertility treatment.

I am simply relieved that this work, which started from such a personal matter, has been recognized in a public arena. At GRAPHGATE, I had the opportunity to engage with many people, and each conversation gave me a lot of inspiration. I often produce photographic works alone, but I realized again that there are things that only become visible when you show them to others and exchange words.'

Future Outlook for Sakiko Ono 'Moving forward, I will continue my creative work while focusing on 'food' in my advertising assignments. I want to deepen my expression by focusing on the relationships between family and humans, which I have faced so far. Also, someday I would like to create works that incorporate 'food' as an element in my artistic productions.'