RINKO KAWAUCHI (b. 1972 Shiga, Japan) graduated from Seian University of Art and Design in 1993 and started working as a photographer on freelance basis from 1997. In 2001, she simultaneously released a series of three photographic books—UTATANE, HANABI, HANAKO from Little More, which created an overnight sensation in the photography world in Japan. In 2002, she was awarded prestigious 27th Annual Kimura Ihei Award for two of the books, UTATANE and HANABI. Further publications by Rinko Kawauchi, which should be mentioned, are AILA (FOIL 2004), the eyes, the ears, and Cui Cui (FOIL, 2005 / both) and Semear (FOIL, 2007). Kawauchi has joined and held many group and solo exhibitions both at home and abroad to date, among others, major solo exhibitions are: 2005 Foundation Cartier pour lﾕart Contemporain, Paris; 2006 The Photographers Gallery, London; 2007 AILA + the eyes, the ears, Hasselblad Centre, Goeborg and Semear Museu de Arte Moderna de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo; 2008 Cui Cui The Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum. Major group exhibitions include: 2006 Collection of the Foundation Cartier pour lﾕart Contemporain Museum Contemporary Art; Tokyo and 2008 Blooming: Brazil-Japan Where You Are Toyota Municipal Museum of Art; Aichi. Rinko Kawauchi lives and works in Tokyo.