Michael Magers is a documentary photographer and journalist based in New York City.  He is a frequent collaborator with the highly acclaimed 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 Harper Collins/Anthony Bourdain. His images are exhibited both internationally and in the U.S. and have appeared in a wide range of digital and print publications including TIME, Smithsonian, Vogue Italia, British Journal of Photography, Huck, Outside, The California Sunday Magazine, CNN’s Explore Parts Unknown,  New York Times - T Magazine (Instagram Takeover), The Guardian.com, and The Washington Post.   His first monograph, Independent Mysteries, was published by Hatje Cantz in late 2019.

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

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

All images copyright Michael Magers.

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