SETO Masato

SETO Masato 瀬戸 正人 (1953- ) Thailand. Winner of the 21st Kimura Ihee Award in 1996 for Living Room, Tokyo (photos of living rooms of residents in Tokyo) and Silent Mode, a photo series of females on the street in silence.

Career Father was in Japanese military and mother was Thai-Vietnamese. Father opened a photo studio in Udon Thani in northeast Thailand a few years after WWII. Masato studied Thai in school and spoke Vietnamese as well.

In 1961, the family moved to Fukushima, the father's hometown. At age 8, he entered the first grade and his Thai fluency waned. Opened a studio in Minami Aoyama in 1981 as a freelance photographer, but there was no work. Visited his birthplace in Thailand for the first time in 20 years in 1982.

Opened photo gallery, Place M in Yotsuya, Tokyo in 1987. Started his Living Room, Tokyo project in 1989 (book published in 1996). Photo book "Bangkok, Hanoi" published in 1989. In 1994, started his "Silent Mode" photo series of females on the street in silence.

Awards Higashikawa Newcomer's Award for "Living Room, Tokyo," 1995; 21st Kimura Ihee Award for "Living Room, Tokyo" and "Silent Mode" in 1996

Book reviews Living Room Tokyo

Web site http://www.setos.jp/