Photographer Mika Ninagawa was born on October 18, 1972, in Tokyo. Her father is the stage and film director Yukio Ninagawa, and her mother is the quilt artist Tomoko Mayama. While studying graphic design at Tama Art University, she began submitting her work to photography exhibitions and winning numerous awards. In 1996, she won the Grand Prix at the 7th Hitotsubo Photography Exhibition and the Excellence Award at the 13th Canon New Cosmos of Photography. In 2001, she won the 26th Kimura Ihei Award alongside HIROMIX and Yurie Nagashima, garnering attention as a pioneer of the girly photography boom. To date, she has held over 70 solo exhibitions and published over 60 photo books. She has also collaborated with fashion brands both in Japan and abroad, including a dress collaboration with Celine during the Ivona Omagic era and a T-shirt collaboration with mastermind JAPAN.

She made her directorial debut in 2007 with "Sakuran," starring Anna Tsuchiya. In 2012, she took the helm for the second time with "Helter Skelter," starring Erika Sawajiri. In 2010, she directed AKB48's music video "Heavy Rotation," and has since directed three music videos for the group.

In her personal life, she has been married and divorced twice, and later married an ordinary man. She gave birth to her first child in December 2007. In September of this year, Kobunsha published the "mama book" mook mook book "MAMA MARIA," for which she served as chief editor.