Haruka Sakaguchi is a freelance photographer based in New York City. Her work focuses on cultural memory and intergenerational trauma.
Haruka's projects have taken her around the world, from documenting atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to photographing former incarcerees and descendants of America’s concentration camps, to making satirical portraits of Hollywood actors who get typecast in culturally stereotypical roles.
Her clients include: BBC, Bloomberg Businessweek, Foreign Policy Magazine, National Geographic, Newsweek, Nobel Peace Center, NPR, ProPublica, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Washington Post Magazine, TIME Magazine, and Vox.
Get in Touch
Email: hsakag@gmail.com
Instagram: @hsakag
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Lectures and Public Programs
2025 - Panelist, Films of Remembrance 2025, Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. Gardena, CA.
2025 - Panelist, Films of Remembrance 2025, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.
2025 - Panelist, Films of Remembrance 2025, San Jose Betsuin Buddhist Church. San Jose, CA.
2025 - Panelist, Films of Remembrance 2025, AMC Kabuki 8. San Francisco, CA.
2025 - Speaker, "The Camps America Built: Honoring Day of Remembrance 2025," Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Oakland, CA.
2024 - Teacher, The Essentials: Season 5, The Everyday Projects. New York, NY.
2024 - Speaker, Media Impact Forum, Lincoln Center. New York, NY.
2024 - Explorer Trainer, National Geographic Society Northern North America Leadership Workshop, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Raleigh, NC.
2024 - Guest Lecturer, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with Nina Berman and Jake Price. New York, NY.
2024 - Guest Lecturer, New York University with Alexandra Falek. New York, NY.
2023 - Guest, “Story in the Public Square: Haruka Sakaguchi”, PBS. Newport, RI.
2023 - Speaker, "National Geographic Storytellers Summit" with National Geographic Society. Washington, DC.
2022 - Speaker, "Artist Talks" with Pratt Photo League, Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, NY.
2022 - Guest Lecturer, New York University with Alexandra Falek. New York, NY.
2022 - Guest Lecturer, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism with Nina Berman and Jake Price. New York, NY.
2021 - Host, “Hiroshima Successors”, The Documentary Podcast, BBC News World Service.
2021 - Speaker, "Imagemaking and a Global Pandemic", International Center of Photography. New York, NY.
2021 - Speaker, "Disruptive Creativity", Leica Women Summit. New York, NY.
2020 - Moderator, "Asian Americans on Race and the Pandemic", Photoville Talks. New York, NY.
2020 - Speaker, “Summer Academy Online”, The School of The New York Times. New York, NY.
2020 - Juror, Women Photograph + Getty Images Scholarship. New York, NY.
2019 - Speaker, "Artist Talk with Griselda San Martin and Haruka Sakaguchi", Photoville Talks. New York, NY.
2019 - Speaker, "Optics: The Visuals of Gentrification", International Center of Photography. New York, NY.
2019 - Speaker, "i3 Photo Lecture: Haruka Sakaguchi", School of Visual Arts. New York, NY.
Awards
2025 - Winner, 2025 Socially Engaged Award, CENTER. Santa Fe, NM.
2023 - Grantee, National Geographic Society Level I Storytelling Grant. Washington, DC.
2021 - Winner, Duke Archive of Documentary Arts Collection Award, Duke University. Durham, NC.
2021 - Finalist, POY78, Pictures of the Year International, Category: COVID-19 Personal Expression. Columbia, MO.
2020 - Winner, Newswomen's Club of New York Front Page Awards, Category: Photo Essay. New York, NY.
Exhibitions
2022 - "Role Play" at Prada Aoyama. Tokyo, Japan.
2022 - "Role Play" at Osservatorio Fondazione Prada. Milan, Italy.
2021 - “Keeping Love Close: What Does Love Look Like?” with The New York Times at Photoville, Times Square. New York, NY.
2020 - "Asian Americans on Race and the Pandemic" at Photoville, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn, NY.
2019 - "Typecast" at Photoville, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Brooklyn, NY.
2019 - "Typecast" at Photoville LA, Annenberg Space for Photography. Los Angeles, CA.
2017-2018 - "Ban the Bomb", Nobel Peace Center. Oslo, Norway.
2017 - "Perfect City: You’re Next presents Haruka Sakaguchi", Abrons Arts Center. New York, NY.