(3 November 1930 – 15 August 2021), known professionally as , was a Japanese-born American

commercial photographer Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...

. He was known for his

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

and

still life photography Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. Similar to still life painting, it is the application of photography to the still life artistic style. Ta ...

from the mid-1960s onward.

Early life

Hiro was born in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

to Japanese parents. His family returned to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from China at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Photography career

In 1954, he went to the United States, and briefly enrolled in the School of Modern Photography in New York. He was dissatisfied with the school, however, and apprenticed himself to the studio of

Lester Bookbinder Lester Bookbinder (New York City, 1929 - London, 9 January 2017) was an American photographer and commercial director who worked in the United Kingdom. Bookbinder trained with Rouben Samberg before moving to London. He established a career as a p ...

and Reuben Samberg. At the end of 1956, he gained an apprenticeship at

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...

's fashion photography studio in New York City. In 1957, Avedon recommended him to

Alexey Brodovitch Alexey Vyacheslavovich Brodovitch (also Brodovich; be, Аляксей Брадовіч, russian: Алексе́й Вячесла́вович Бродо́вич; 1898 – April 15, 1971) was a Russian-born American photographer, designer ...

, the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

at ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

,'' and Hiro worked there as his assistant for a time, during Brodovitch's Design Laboratory at

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

. By the end of 1957, Hiro was no longer Avedon's assistant, and had launched his own career. Within only a few years, Hiro became a fashion photographer in his own right. He contributed as a staff photographer to ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1956 to 1975, then worked as a freelancer taking commissioned assignments from ''Harper's'', ''Vogue'' and other magazines. One of his early celebrated photographs is a 1963 image of a

Harry Winston Harry Winston (March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchang ...

diamond necklace placed on a bovine hoof. Surreal and unique, Hiro's photographs are noted for their elegance and clean appearance. He uses uncommon lighting, the juxtaposition of unexpected elements, and his particular use of color. He was named Photographer of the Year by the

American Society of Media Photographers The American Society of Media Photographers, abbreviated ASMP, is a professional association of imaging professionals, including photojournalists, architectural, underwater, food/culinary and advertising photographers as well as video/film makers ...

in 1969 and 1982. Also in 1982, the trade magazine ''

American Photographer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'' devoted an issue to him. In 2020 Hiro was inducted into the

International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri honors those who have made great contributions to the field of photography. History In 1977 the first Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Santa Barbara, California and a f ...

Personal life and death

Hiro married set designer Elizabeth Clark in 1959, and they had two sons. He lived primarily in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, but died at his country home in

Erwinna, Pennsylvania Erwinna ( ) is an unincorporated community in Tinicum Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located approximately north as the crow flies of Center City, Philadelphia and approximately west of the city limits of New York C ...

, on 15 August 2021, at the age of 90.

Publications

*''Hiro: Photographs''. New York: Bulfinch, 1999. Edited by

. . With an afterword by Mark Holborn.

References

1930 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers American people of Japanese descent Artists from Shanghai Commercial photographers Fashion photographers Japanese emigrants to the United States Japanese photographers Naturalized citizens of the United States Photographers from New York City {{US-photographer-stub