Mika Ninagawa (蜷川 実花) is a Japanese photographer and director, known for her brightly colored photographs of flowers, goldfish, and landscapes.

Biography

Daughter of acclaimed theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, she first came to prominence in the late 1990s as part of Japan's 'Girly Photo' movement (in which amateurs took photos of daily objects). Her work was first exhibited outside Japan in 1997 at the Parisian concept store Colette (boutique), and in 2001 she received the 26th Kimura Ihei Award (Japan's most prestigious photography award). In 2014, she was appointed as an executive board member of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2020.

Work

Ninagawa has enjoyed significant commercial success in fashion and advertising. She made her debut as a full-length film director in 2007 with Sakuran. In September 2010, her music video for the AKB48 song "Heavy Rotation" was released. She directed the live action film adaptation of the manga Helter Skelter in 2012. In 2020, her web series directorial debut was with Netflix's Followers. Alongside photographers like Hiromix and Yurie Nagashima they were important figures in a 90s photographic movement. This movement, influenced by cultural changes, point & shoot cameras, and 'Purikura' (Print Club) culture, featured Japanese teenagers, especially girls, creating a new visual style.

Awards

Photography

Exhibitions

Filmography

Movies

TV and Web TV Series

Music videos

Books

Other projects

Ninagawa was involved in the interior design of the Bar & Cafè on the Bund cafe and bar in Shanghai, China. Ninagawa was involved in designing the external livery of a new Genbi Shinkansen excursion train scheduled to be operated in Japan by JR East from spring 2016. She appears alongside fellow Movie director Yūichi Fukuda, in a scene as a couple, in TV Tokyo's 2019 special 2-day drama starring Shun Oguri and Tsuyoshi Muro, "Futatsu no Sokoku" (Two homelands).