Michael Magers is a documentary photographer based in Austin, Texas. His work lives at the intersection of intimacy, craft, and culture—an ongoing effort to capture the human presence behind the process, the story beneath the surface. He is a frequent collaborator with the team at Roads & Kingdoms and served as the lead photographer on their award-winning books, "Rice Noodle Fish”and "Grape Olive Pig” (as well as contributing to the 3rd book in the series "Pasta Pane Vino") published by Anthony Bourdain.
His critically-acclaimed first monograph, Independent Mysteries (Hatje Cantz, 2019), is a decade-long meditation on the feeling of intimate distance. The images—often described as cinematic and quietly haunting—drift between portrait and atmosphere, tracing the emotional residue of places and people just outside the frame.
Magers’ photographs have been exhibited internationally and featured in TIME, Smithsonian, Vogue Italia, British Journal of Photography, Huck, Outside, The California Sunday Magazine, CNN’s Explore Parts Unknown, T Magazine, The Guardian, and The Washington Post amongst others.
Michael’s work documenting craftsmanship in Japan was named a 2016 Critical Mass Finalist and in 2019, he was shortlisted for the Hariban Award.
Selected Awards & Exhibitions
May 2023 - Through a Lens - 10 Years in Japan, Ronin Gallery, New York, New York
March 2023 - Independent Mysteries x La Pared Negra, Fabrica de Arte Cubano, Havana, Cuba
February 2022 - Takeami/Tagamono - Japanese Contemporary Craft, Les Ateliers Courbet, New York, New York
January 2022 - Independent Mysteries Solo Show, Kyotographie Delta Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
October 2021 - Jurors' Pick, LensCulture Street Photography Awards
July 2021 - Center Annual Exhibition, Houston Center For Photography, Houston, Texas
February 2020 - Independent Mysteries x Fotografiska NYC, Fotografiska Museum, New York New York
January 2020 - Irezumi: The Art of the Japanese Traditional Tattoo, Fabrica de Arte Cubano (La Pared Negra), Havana, Cuba
December 2018 - Ichiren-Takusho - A Shared and Common Fate (celebrating Japanese Tattoo Artist Horiren 1st), Black Box Gallery, Osaka, and Le Deco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
December 2016 - Slideshow Night, Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, California
September 2016 - Critical Mass 2016 Finalist - Shokunin: Japan's Vanishing Masters
June 2016 - Una Noche, Images of Cuba's New Musical Vanguard, Fabrica de Arte Cubano, Havana, Cuba
January 2016 - Joint exhibition with Japanese Shokunin NAKAGAWA Shuji, L'Esprit d'Artisan Gallery, Paris, France
January 2016 - Awakenings (ASMP Los Angeles Group Show), PhotoLA, Los Angeles, California
September 2015 - Ama: Japan's Aging Freedivers, The Ama Museum (permanent collection), Toba, Japan
August 2015 - Fossils of Light and Time, Juried Publication of the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography (Curated by Elizabeth Avedon)
May 2015 - Shokunin (Solo Show), Nagasaki Peace Museum, Nagasaki, Japan
April 2015 - Offerings (Group Show), Kyotographie, Kyoto, Japan
January 2015 - Margins (ASMP Los Angeles Group Show), PhotoLA, Los Angeles, California
May 2014 - Polish (Group Show), Rox Gallery, New York, New York
March 2014 - Sumo and Street - Images from Japan, Jay Kos, New York, New York