Whilst Hyogo-born Hideaki Hamada’s (b. 1977) has an expansive practice encompassing portraiture, lifestyle, travel and documentary, an attention to human nature creates stylistic cohesion across all genres. Building up an intimate relationship between individuals and their surroundings, Hamada creates a softly lit landscape – a conceptual playground for its inhabitants. Going Against The Grain is the best example of this, depicting four uniformed figures who haunt open fields and concrete staircases in dynamic anonymity and seeming unison broken only by one outlier who walks in a different direction or faces another way. Commenting on globalisation and conformity, this poignant series is both delicate and revolutionary. As well as exhibiting in both Asia and Europe, the Osaka-based photographer has been published in Kinfolk, Frame and The Big Issue Taiwan, amongst others. Hamada was also named Official Photographer at the 2013 Setouchi Triennale.
