Snow-capped peaks at first light above a valley filled with low cloud

Lena Ihara

Selected works 2019–2026

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Selected Works

01 / 05
Lone figure walking a narrow Tokyo back-alley at night under warm sodium lamps

Back Lane No. 7

Shinjuku, Tokyo — 2021

Monochrome portrait of a woman in low tonal light, hands framing a face half sunk in shadow

Portrait of M.

Yanaka Studio, Tokyo — 2024

Dark spruce slope dissolving into cold grey fog in the minutes before rain

Weather Coming In

Þórsmörk, Iceland — 2023

Red desert dunes receding into haze, wind-carved shadow along the crest lines

Red Hour

Sossusvlei, Namibia — 2022

Green aurora over snow-covered rocks on a dark Icelandic shore at night

Meltwater Study II

Jökulsárlón, Iceland — 2020

Clear umbrella beaded with rain at night, city lights blurred to blue and red bokeh behind it

Rain Signal

Dōtonbori, Osaka — 2025

Pale fog pooling between dark mountain ridge lines in layered half light

Half Light III

Ísafjörður, Iceland — 2019

Empty cobbled lane at night, wet stone reflecting a chain of amber lamps

Last Train Home

Ueno, Tokyo — 2026

Series

02 / 05
Half Light series cover — fog hanging over still lake water at dawn

Half Light

Iceland · 22 works
Sodium series cover — amber traffic signals and a street lamp burning against a black night

Sodium

Tokyo / Osaka · 31 works
Cold Static series cover — dark open water dissolving into flat grey sea fog

Cold Static

North Atlantic · 17 works

Statement

03 / 05

I photograph the hour when places stop performing — fog before the ferries run, sodium lamps after the last train, ice the day before it lets go.

Lena Ihara (b. 1988, Sapporo) works between Tokyo and Reykjavík. Her long-form series examine artificial and natural light at the edges of the day, printed as pigment editions on Japanese kozo and baryta papers. Commissions and editorial assignments are undertaken selectively, usually in winter.

Represented for editions by Gallery Kasumi, Tokyo, and Hafnar Gallery, Reykjavík.

Selected clients & press

  • Lumen Press
  • Quarterly Review
  • MARGIN
  • Hearth
  • The Larder
  • Halide Magazine

Exhibitions

04 / 05
2026 Half Light — solo · Gallery Kasumi Tokyo
2025 Sodium — solo · Hafnar Gallery Reykjavík
2024 New Nordic Photography — group · Hasselblad Center Gothenburg
2023 Cold Static — solo · Kana Kawanishi Gallery Tokyo
2022 Night Frequencies — group · Foam Amsterdam
2019 First Light — group · Reykjavík Museum of Photography Reykjavík

Prints — 05 / 05

Limited editions of 25. Archival pigment on kozo and baryta, signed and numbered, shipped rolled from Tokyo or Reykjavík.

Certificates of authenticity included. Framing available through partner workshops in Tokyo, London, and Copenhagen. Trade enquiries from galleries and art consultants welcome.

See rates & commissions Send an enquiry

Editions & provenance

Every print is an edition of 25 plus two artist proofs, signed and numbered on the verso. A certificate of authenticity with edition ledger entry accompanies each work; no open editions are produced.

Shipping & framing

Prints ship rolled in archival tubes within ten working days, fully insured, from Tokyo or Reykjavík. Museum-glass framing is available through partner workshops in Tokyo, London, and Copenhagen.

Commissions

A small number of editorial and site-specific commissions are accepted each winter. Enquiries should include location, timeframe, and intended use; the studio replies within one week.