BIOGRAPHY
1992
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Born in 1992 in Saitama, Japan, Ulysses Aoki is a working photographer of Japanese and European-American descent, mostly known for his innovative and candid color photography. His works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions around the world. Although Ulysses’ artistic practice retains a sense of purity to the photographic medium, his work challenges to expand the boundaries of what real-world, candid photography can provide to the human eye. Dense, mysterious, classical yet possessing traits of modernity, his work showcases the state of current society while depicting its hidden beauty, utilizing knowledge and inspiration from cultural motifs, philosophy, film, paintings and sculpture. Past work and collaborative projects include brands such as Uniqlo, Xiaomi, Plan C, Hodinkee, The Giacometti Foundation, The Dubai Tourism Board and The Yakushima Tourism Board, while working with companies in the photography industry such as Leica, Hasselblad, Ricoh, SIGMA, Sony and Kitamura Camera.
Born in Saitama, Japan, then moved to greater Tokyo area at the age of 6. Ulysses played football from a young age while being in a modeling agency, exposing him to the camera and the ecosystem of creatives
Moves to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to play for Arsenal de Sarandi Futbol Club
Moves back to Japan, joining Albirex Niigata’s high school football team
Moves to Tokyo, quitting football. While his downtime to rethink his life ahead, Ulysses was asked to join a fashion campaign as a model again. This invigorates his passion for the arts and creative output
Graduated from International Christian University in Tokyo, majoring in Environmental Studies and taking part in international United Nations programs as a representative student from Japan. Picks up the camera during his time at university, and begins taking portraits of his friends in the fashion modeling industry
Learns the history of street/documentary photography beginning his journey with candid photography, inspired by photographers from Magnum Photo Agency
Starts his series “Density”, dedicating his work to color and documenting the colors of Tokyo, after meeting with photographer Jesse Marlow
Travels to Dubai for the first time after being invited to teach candid photography by the Dubai Tourism Board
Winner: London Street Photography Festival, Finalist: Paris Street, Finalist: Palm Photo Prize
First solo exhibition of Ulysses’ works opens at Koma Gallery, Tokyo
Works with Plan C to exhibit and showcase his photographs during Milan Fashion week. His photographs from Tokyo were used in exhibitions, Zines and T-shirts for the brand. This project begins to tie back his roots in the fashion world with this photography
Begins abstract paintings and drawings, after studying artists such as Cy Twombly, Gerhard Richter, Willem De Kooning
Invited artist/exhibitor for the Hibiya Okuroji Art Festival in Tokyo through Kana Kawanishi Gallery
First solo exhibitor at Kitamura Camera Shinjuku’s newly opened gallery space
Travels to Berlin and Paris. Visits and provides photographs to the Giacometti Foundation
Travels to and documents Rome for the opening of the first Uniqlo flagship store in Rome, Via Del Corso. Photographs were exhibited at the opening, while printed on Zines provided for visitors
Photography work increases in the world of mens fashion, through outlets and brands such as Permanent Style, The Armoury, Brycelands and Mens Uomo.
Assists a Magnum Workshop in Tokyo, hosted by photographer Moises Saman
Hosts and arranges a photography workshop in Kyoto with photographer Moises Saman and artist Foster Mickley
Travels to and documents Turkey
Photographs published in “Tokyo: Now is Now”, teNeues Publishing