Higashikawa, located in the Kamikawa district of Hokkaido, declared itself a town of photography in 1985, and has held the Higashikawa International Photo Festival every summer since. Over the last 30 years, the accompanying Higashikawa Awards have celebrated both Japanese and international photographers, exhibiting their works and prints. This exhibition at Towada Art Center featured works from the Higashikawa Collection on the theme of genius loci, the protective spirit of a place. The photographers shown therein may have been subconsciously aware of some incorporeal presence when capturing the landscapes and lives of their subjects, as if in conversation with the mystical. [Artists] Part 1: What Connects Life and Death Ichiro Kojima (2010, Hidano Kazuemon Award), Issei Suda (1985, Domestic Artist Award), Graciela Iturbide (1990, Overseas Photographer Award), Nobuyoshi Araki (1991, Domestic Artist Award), Masahisa Fukase (1992, Special Photographer Award), Yutaka Takanashi (1993, Domestic Artist Award), Akio Nagasawa (1993, New Photographer Award), Antoine d’Agata (2004, Overseas Photographer Award), Hotaro Koyama (2005, Domestic Artist Award), Risaku Suzuki (2006, Domestic Artist Award)Osamu James Nakagawa (2010, New , Photographer Award), Lieko Shiga (2012, New Photographer Award), Rinko Kawauchi (2013, Domestic Artist Award) Part 2: Life and the Land Kazuemon Hidano (2001, Special Photographer Award) Part 3: Spirits Converge Genichiro Kakegawa (1991, Special Photographer Award), Su-nam Kim (1995, Overseas Photographer Award), Claudio Edinger (1999, Overseas Photographer Award), Manit Sriwanichpoom (2007, Overseas Photographer Award), Makiko Ui (2012, Special Photographer Award), Jorma Puranen (2014, Overseas Photographer Award) [Basic Information] Period: January 30 - May 15, 2016 Venue: Towada Art Center OFFICIAL WEBSITE