Night 1st place winner

In my native Japanese language, there is a word "ryojo" which is a concept of this series. "Ryojo" means a sincere and nostalgic feeling that a person feels when she or he goes on a trip. It is a noun peculiar to the Japanese language with the meaning of the emotion of travel. This series of works fantastically expresses this sentiment associated with long-distance trains at night, using the night scene of Madrid's Atocha Station as a stage. The photographs were taken using a Sprit Diopter to diffuse the light and create an atmosphere reminiscent of an illustration in a story.

A Japanese photographer based in Madrid. She studied design at Musashino Art University and completed doctoral studies in art history at Nagoya University.
Her work explores traces of absence and hidden urban narratives, capturing subtle emotional resonances through a contemplative yet incisive gaze. Noted for her Madrid train-station series and experimental use of prisms and split diopters, she examines the fragility between presence and disappearance.
She has received international recognition, including the Grand Prix at the Paris International Street Photo Awards and consecutive B&W International Awards. She exhibited with ART-ICON in Paris (2024) and Arles (2025).
Her first photobook, All the Fading Words, was published in 2025.