Photographer Rinko Kawauchi was born on April 6, 1972, in Shiga Prefecture. She graduated from Seian Women's Junior College in 1993 and began working as a freelancer in 1997. In 2001, she simultaneously released the trilogy of photobooks "Utatane," "Hanabi," and "Hanako." The following year, she won the 27th Kimura Ihei Photography Award for these two books. She has also been active overseas, holding a solo exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2005, winning the New Artist Award at the International Center of Photography in New York in 2009, and her photobook "Illuminance," which was simultaneously published in the United States and five other countries in 2011. In 2013, she won the New Artist Award from the Japan Art Encouragement Agency for Japan for her solo exhibition "Illuminance: Heaven and Earth, Seeing Shadows." From April 27 to June 8, she will be holding a photo exhibition titled "Gift" at the IMA Concept Store. Additionally, from the 26th to the 29th, there will be related events such as workshops and talk shows with American photographer Teri Weifenbach.