The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) has announced Japanese photographer Kazuyoshi Nomachi as the recipient of its prestigious Appreciation Award for its 15th season, ‘Family’.

This global honour recognises Nomachi’s extraordinary career spanning more than half a century. His life’s work has been dedicated to visually archiving humanity in the world's most remote, climate-harsh environments, capturing an irreplaceable record of ancestral traditions, deep-rooted beliefs and sacred rituals before their disruption by modern globalisation. His expansive publications are universally recognised by the international press as a definitive, invaluable document of human geography.

Nomachi has published over 15 photographic anthologies chronicling his extensive expeditions across three continents.  His most celebrated works include Sahara, The Nile, Tibet and his unprecedented, deeply immersive visual documentations Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant. His contributions to the visual arts have previously earned him Japan’s highest cultural accolades, including the Domon Ken Award and the prestigious Medal with Purple Ribbon from the Japanese government.

The HIPA Board of Trustee selected Nomachi because his lifelong catalogue acts as a macro-study of the global human family, capturing the resilient bonds between peoples and their lands.

“We, at HIPA, conduct meticulous, exhaustive international research to select a recipient truly deserving of this distinguished honour,” said His Excellency Ali Bin Thalth, Secretary General of HIPA. “Kazuyoshi Nomachi has delivered profound, impactful photographic contributions that confront issues of vital importance to global society. He stands as an inspiring role model, demonstrating how a purposeful creative career can add distinctive, lasting value to our shared world."

Bin Thalith added: “Honouring these trailblazing creative individuals lies at the very heart of the HIPA’s mission. We are deeply inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence, whose patronage continuously fosters global cultural and intellectual creativity.”

Reflecting on the international recognition, Kazuyoshi Nomachi said, “Receiving an award of the global stature and prestige of HIPA is an immense honour. For decades, I have travelled to the edges of the earth to understand the faiths and cultures that people have passed down through generations. My journeys through the Islamic world and beyond showed me how deeply rooted traditions shape people's lives.”

 

Nomachi added: “Today, rapid globalisation has made our world extraordinarily efficient, but it has simultaneously accelerated the homogenisation of local cultures. To have witnessed and documented these rich ethnic traditions and diverse faiths just before they began to fade is an irreplaceable treasure to me. I am profoundly grateful that a lifetime of work, driven purely by an unwavering curiosity, has been recognised on this global stage.”

 

About Kazuyoshi Nomachi

Kazuyoshi Nomachi (born 1946) is an internationally acclaimed documentary photographer whose work explores the relationship between humanity, nature and spirituality. Since his first journey to the Sahara in 1972, at the age of twenty-five, he has devoted his career to documenting the lives, beliefs and traditions of people inhabiting some of the world's most challenging environments. Guided by the theme of the search for the sacred through prayer, his photography reveals the resilience of the human spirit and the universal quest for meaning and transcendence.

Nomachi developed an interest in photography as a teenager while attending Kochi Technical High School. In 1969, he studied photography under Takashi Kijima and in 1971 began working as a freelance advertising photographer. His journey to the Sahara the following year profoundly changed his direction. Moved by the strength of people living in its harsh environment, he turned to photojournalism, beginning a lifelong exploration of humanity's relationship with the natural world.

Inspired by the contrast between the Sahara's aridity and the life-giving power of water, Nomachi began documenting the Nile in 1980. He traced the White Nile from the Nile Delta to its source in Uganda and followed the Blue Nile to its origins in the Ethiopian highlands, capturing the extraordinary landscapes and communities shaped by these great rivers.

From 1988, Nomachi turned his attention to Asia. His work in western China introduced him to Tibet's high-altitude communities and the spiritual traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, leading him throughout much of the Tibetan cultural region. Between 2004 and 2008, he also explored the sacred origins of the Ganges, documenting the landscapes and traditions central to Hinduism.

From 1995 to 2000, Nomachi photographed the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, documenting the Hajj pilgrimage and the profound devotion of Muslims gathering in Mecca. Beginning in 2002, he also explored the Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia, examining the blending of Catholicism and Inca cultural traditions, a project he has continued to pursue.

Across more than four decades, Nomachi has developed a distinctive visual language in which human figures possess an extraordinary dignity and exist in harmony with their surroundings. Through luminous landscapes and carefully composed portraits, his photographs reveal both the physical realities of daily life and its deeper spiritual dimensions.

His work has been published in twelve major books and featured in international magazines, including National Geographic, GEO and Stern. Among his many honours are the Photographic Society of Japan's Annual Award, received in 1990 and 1997, and Japan's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon, awarded in 2009.

Nomachi's photographs transcend cultural and geographical boundaries, offering a compelling visual testament to humanity's resilience, the power of faith and the enduring search for the sacred.