CHIKARA UMIHARA | ARTIST BIO

Chikara Umihara was born and raised in an industrial neighborhood in Tokyo. Chikara came to New York to pursue his interest in photography in 2006. Formerly, he was a practitioner of martial arts for over fifteen years. He earned his B.A. in Literature from Waseda University in 2000. Now, he is an MFA Photography candidate at the Hartford Art School. He attended Review Santa Fe in New Mexico in 2010. He was selected for the Present Tense competition exhibition at Photo Center NW in Seattle and Hot Shots in the Hey, Hot Shot! international annual competition in 2010, and also the new directions competition exhibition at wall space gallery in Santa Barbara and Seattle in 2011. Chikara was named the 2010 Hey, Hot Shot! Ne Plus Ultra. Chikara is currently resides and works both in Japan and New York.