/ 2026 / Portraiture / Family

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Hiroko Murayama, Japan
• Date of Photograph
  2025-
• Website
  https://murayamahiroko.com
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/_hiiiroko/

My son is not me. Yet sometimes, I fall into the illusion that he is.

He relies on the rustling of light more than the written word. But should I apologize for that? At times, I catch glimpses of my childhood within him—especially when he is overwhelmed by the world's incongruity, nearly drowning in fear. Surely, this sensitivity is inherited from me; I recognize these shadows from my own past.

I hope this illusion stays gentle, allowing us to live as distinct selves. This series is a dialogue between my son, who has ADHD and dyslexia, and my inner life of the same nature.

Hiroko Murayama is a photographer exploring the contours that emerge through relationships with others, landscape, and memory. Starting from intimate family relationships, her practice investigates the shifting boundaries between self and other, body and landscape, perception and memory. Her major works include The Linden Garden (2016) and A Quiet Erosion. Since 2025, she has been developing His Own Antlers, a series centered on her relationship with her son following his discovery of deer antlers in the forest.

Awards 2026
Athena Photography Festival Shortlist
《His Own Antlers》
2026
AAP Magazine #57 Portrait
Next Round Selection
《His Own Antlers》
2025
AAP Magazine #55 Women
Next Round Selection
《His Own Antlers》
2022
Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA)
Honorable Mention
《A Quiet Erosion》
2016
Solo Exhibition, Aidem Photo Gallery “Sirius,” Tokyo
《The Linden Garden》
2016
Selected for Procyon Photo F’s
2014
Published My Sewing Box
(Mainavi Publishing)