is a Japanese photographer.
Kobayashi was born in Ōdate, Akita in 1952. He left
Nippon Dental College
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 ...
in 1980, before graduation, and graduated from
Tokyo College of Photography
The was set up in Nakano, Tokyo in 1958, as Tokyo Photo School (, ''Tōkyō Foto Sukūru''); its current name dates from 1960. During the 1960s, it moved to Hiyoshi (Yokohama), where it has remained.
Notable graduates
* Tadasuke Akiyama
* Tak ...
(postgraduate course) in 1983.
Kobayashi had a solo exhibition "Landscapes" at Gallery Eye-Heart, Tokyo in 1982, showing a series of landscapes taken in the urban marginal area, often developed for housing or a new city development. In 1986 he published ''Landscape,'' was awarded the award for new photographers by the
Photographic Society of Japan
The is an organization set up in December 1951 to advance photography in Japan. Its membership of about 1,400 includes both amateur and professional photographers, as well as researchers, critics, and people in the photographic industry. Its add ...
in 1987. ''First Light'' won the
Kimura Ihei Award
The is a Japanese photography award.
The award has been given every year since 1975 (except 1983) by the Asahi Shimbun Company, publisher of ''Asahi Shimbun'' and the magazine ''Asahi Camera'', in honor of the photographer Ihei Kimura. It is give ...
for photography in 1993.
Kobayashi's photographs were exhibited with those by Yūji Saiga,
Naoya Hatakeyama
is a Japanese photographer. His work explores human intervention with the landscape and natural materials, including the life of cities and the built environment.
Life
Hatakeyama was born in Japan Rikuzentakata, Iwate, in 1958. He graduated f ...
and
Toshio Yamane
__NOTOC__ is a Japanese photographer known for his depictions of the juxtaposition of man-made structures on natural topography.
Yamane was born on 29 June 1953 in what is now Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. He studied German literature at ...
in an exhibition, ''Land of Paradox,'' that travelled around the US in 1996–97.Specifically, to Photographic Resource Center, Boston; Ansel Adams Center for Photography, San Francisco;
Southeast Museum of Photography
The Southeast Museum of Photography is located in Daytona Beach, Florida, on the campus of Daytona State College. It opened in 1992, and moved to a new facility (the Mori Hosseini Center) in 2007.Through a Japanese Viewfinder , ''Art in America,'' 1 March 1997. A review of the exhibition ''Land of Paradox.''
Publications
* Ashiya City Museum of Art and History (, ''Ashiya-shi Bijutsukan''). ''Rando obu paradokkusu'' ) / ''Land of Paradox.'' Kyoto: Tankōsha, 1997. .
* Fuku, Noriko, ed. ''Land of paradox: Yuji Saiga, Naoya Hatakeyama, Norio Kobayashi, Toshio Yamane.'' Daytona Beach, Fla: Daytona Beach Community College, 1996. . Catalogue of the exhibition as held in the US.
* Last Home, Camera Works Tokyo No.10. 1983.
* ''Randosukēpu'' () / ''Japanese Landscapes.'' Tokyo: Ark One, 1986.
* ''Saishū'' (). Tama, Tokyo: Tama City, 1991. The photographs are by Kobayashi.
* ''Fāsuto raito'' () / ''First Light: Japanese Landscape.'' Tokyo: Atelier Peyotl, 1992. .
* Surface, Booth-Clibborn Editions, England. 1996. (collaboration)