Kazuyoshi Nomachi Photo Exhibition: SAHARA THE ETERNAL

About the exhibition

FUJIFILM SQUARE is pleased to present Kazuyoshi Nomachi Photo Exhibition: SAHARA THE ETERNAL from October 30 (Fri) to November 26 (Thu), 2026. An austere land of seemingly endless sand and rock, the Sahara is a world of extreme dryness almost unimaginable to someone in humid Japan. In 1972, Nomachi traveled by car from Europe to Africa and ventured for the first time into the desert. His encounter with the Sahara was life-changing, and he later returned for stays lasting several months at a time. This exhibition focuses primarily on black-and-white photographs selected from those he took during those visits.

Nomachi's photographs of the Sahara first gained international recognition with the publication of his photobook SAHARA in Italy in 1977, and it was subsequently published in Japan, France, the UK, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. By 2018, he had made 14 trips to photograph the Sahara, spending a total of 900 days there.

Nomachi embedded himself in communities of desert nomads and among people living in oases and the mountains of Morocco, capturing how they have maintained distinctive cultures amid harsh natural conditions. He also photographed countless rock paintings that testify to a period, beginning around 7000 BCE and lasting several thousand years, when much of the Sahara was green and moist, supporting flourishing communities. We invite you to experience Nomachi's powerful images, born of his fascination with the Sahara and his firsthand experience of its arid environment. The exhibition also renews our sense of what light and shadow can do in a black-and-white photograph. This exhibition commemorates Nomachi's receipt of the 2026 HIPA Photography Appreciation Award from the Emirate of Dubai.

*HIPA Award
The Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) was established in 2011 at the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, one of the emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is one of the world's most prestigious international photography awards. Previous recipients of its Photography Appreciation Award include internationally renowned photographers Elliott Erwitt and Sebastião Salgado. Nomachi is the first Japanese photographer to receive the Photography Appreciation Award, which is accompanied by a cash prize of $100,000.

Exhibition overview