Kazuyoshi Nomachi has always been a documentary photographer, since his first trip in the Sahara when he was twenty five years. In Africa was fascinated by the great outdoors and the strength of the people who live in such difficult environments. For over 40 years, around the theme "the prayer of the search for the sacred," he turned his attention to the most diverse traditional cultures which are the expression of the peoples who inhabit the lands harsher, to the four corners of the world. Nomachi was able to capture the spirituality that runs through the landscapes of unique and extraordinary beauty, where the portraits and human figures assume an absolute dignity and blend with the context in almost pictorial compositions, dominated by a dazzling light, real and transcendental at the same time.
Nomachi was born in Japan in 1946 in Kochi Prefecture. He studied at Kochi Technical High School and started taking photographs then as a teenager. In 1969 he studied photography under Takashi Kijima. In 1971 he began his career as a freelance advertising photographer and in the next year he made his first trip to the Sahara where he was shocked to see the strong life of the people living under the harsh environment of the area. This made him to switch his career to photojournalism.
Through his long experience at the extreme dryness of the Sahara, he gained an inspiration from the Nile. With this theme, from 1980 he started his coverage of the White Nile from the Nile Delta up to its first drip of water at an iceberg in Uganda and up the Blue Nile to its origin at the highlands of Ethiopia. Since 1988 he turned his attention to Asia, exploring Tibet, the Ganges, and the holy cities of Islam. From 1995 to 2000 Nomachi had access to the holiest city of Islam, photographing the largest annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. From 2002, he visited the Andes highlands with a theme of the blending of the catholic belief with the Inca civilization.
His photographs have been published worldwide and appeared in major photo magazines, such as National Geographic, GEO and Stern. His work has won numerous awards, including the Annual Award of the Photographic Society of Japan in 1990 and 1997, and the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 2009.
Biography
| 1946 | Born in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. |
| 1968 | Studied under photographer Takashi Kijima. |
| 1971 | Became a freelance photographer. |
| 1972 | A journey through the Sahara Desert inspired extensive coverage of Africa, including the Nile and Ethiopia. |
| Late 1980s | Shifted focus to the Middle East and Asia. Long-term projects in China, Tibet, and Saudi Arabia. |
| 2000s | Continued fieldwork primarily in the Andes, India, and Iran. |
| 2016 | Documenting UNESCO World Heritage sites globally. |
Selected Photo Books
| 1978 | Sahara (Heibonsha; published in 5 countries) |
| 1983 | Bahar (Shueisha) / Sahara: The Endless Desert (Iwanami Shoten) |
| 1987 | Morocco (Iwanami Shoten / Canon Club) |
| 1989 | The Nile (Joho Center; published in 6 countries) / Long March (Joho Center) |
| 1994 | Tibet (Shueisha; published in 3 countries) |
| 1996 | Sahara: 20 Years (Kodansha; published in 4 countries) |
| 1997 | Pilgrimage to Mecca (Shueisha; published in 5 countries) |
| 1998 | Bless Ethiopia (Shueisha; published in 3 countries) / MAKKAH AL MUKARRAMAH (Tharaa Int., Saudi Arabia) |
| 2000 | Vatican (Co-authored, Sekai Bunka Publishing) |
| 2005 | Ethiopian Apocalypse (Iwanami Shoten) / A Photographer's Pilgrimage (Shinchosha; published in 10 languages) |
| 2009 | Persia (Heibonsha) |
| 2010 | Sahara: Gallery of the Desert (Shinchosha) |
| 2011 | Ganges (Shinchosha) |
| 2013 | Le Vie Del Sacro (National Geographic Italy) |
| 2015 | Extreme Altitudes (Nikkei National Geographic) / Beyond the Horizon (Crevis) |
| 2018 | ETHIOPIA (Crevis) |
| 2025 | Documents of HUMANS AND LAND (Crevis) |
Selected Exhibitions
| 1978 | Sahara — Ginza Nikon Salon |
| 1983 | Bahar! — Shinjuku Odakyu Grand Gallery, and others |
| 1994 | Tibet — Ginza Wako, and others |
| 2003 | Praying Lands — Hiratsuka Museum of Art / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography |
| 2005 | Ethiopian Apocalypse — Konica Minolta Plaza / A Photographer's Pilgrimage — Canon Gallery S |
| 2009 | Sacred Places — Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography / The Museum of Art, Kochi |
| 2010 | A Photographer's Pilgrimage — Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan |
| 2013 | Bahar Revisited — Canon Gallery S / Le Vie Del Sacro — MACRO, Rome |
| 2015 | Beyond the Horizon — FUJIFILM SQUARE / Le Vie Dell'Anima — Reggia di Monza, Milan |
| 2023 | Beyond the Horizon — The Museum of Art, Kochi |
| 2025 | Documents of HUMANS AND LAND — Setagaya Art Museum |
Awards & Honors
| 1979 | Newcomer's Award, Photographic Society of Japan (for Sahara) |
| 1982 | Silver Award, NPPA Pictures of the Year (for LIFE magazine article on the Nile) |
| 1984 | 3rd Ken Domon Award (for Bahar, Sahara: The Endless Desert, etc.) |
| 1990 | Minister of Education's Art Encouragement Prize / Annual Award, Photographic Society of Japan |
| 1993 | Kodansha Publication Culture Award |
| 1997 | Annual Award, Photographic Society of Japan / Domestic Photographer Award, Higashikawa Prize |
| 2002 | Daido Life Foundation Special Prize for Area Studies |
| 2006 | Shidachi Fujimoto Photography Culture Award |
| 2009 | Medal with Purple Ribbon (Government of Japan) |
| 2014 | International Award, Photographic Society of Japan |
