Haruka Sakaguchi is a Japanese photographer based out of Brooklyn, New York. Her work focuses on cultural identity, otherness, and sense of place.
Haruka was born in Osaka, Japan. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was three months old. In 2013, Haruka received a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of British Columbia. Since then, her work has taken her to various corners of the world where she has produced both personal and editorial work.
Haruka uses photography to challenge monolithic interpretations of a culture or community. She has worked with a wide range of subjects, from the Islamic community in New York City to residents of Jeffrey City, a former uranium mining town in central Wyoming. Haruka also returns to her home country regularly to host photography workshops and to work on an ongoing portrait series documenting hibakusha, or A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In Haruka's recent portrait series, "The Original New Yorkers," she works with New York natives who have been affected by gentrification. Participants are photographed in their homes or workplaces and asked to submit a handwritten note, either depicting the way gentrification has affected them personally or an “open letter” addressing newcomers to New York City. While processes of gentrification are often conflated with terms such as “urban renewal” and “revitalization," Haruka focuses instead on how long-term residents cope with issues of rising costs of living and displacement.
New York has long been a city of immigrants, of new beginnings, of constant change—but the present pace at which long-time residents are being forced out is alarming. This series gives voice to native New Yorkers who have been particularly affected by gentrification.
