BIO

Noriko Hayashi is a documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer based in Tokyo. She is represented by Panos Pictures.

Noriko began taking pictures for a local newspaper "The Point" in Gambia, West Africa, when she was a university student in International Relations. Since then, she has been shooting stories all around the world including North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Peru, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, etc.

Her works have been published internationally in outlets such as GRANTA, The New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, Stern, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, Bloomberg Businessweek, Marie Claire UK, ASAHI Shimbun newspaper and Newsweek among others.

Noriko is a National Geographic Explore since 2023.

-Awards-

- The Visa d’Or feature award at the Visa Pour l'image festival in France (2013)

- The finalist for the Alexia Foundation professional grant (2013)

- 1st Prize of NPPA Best of Photojournalism in Contemporary Issue (2014)

- The finalist for Amnesty International Media Awards (2014, 2021)

- Sony World Photography Awards, Japan Professional Award (2025)

-Books-

Unholy Matrimony 138 pages Nikkei National Geographic

The Prayer of the Yazidis (Japanese, English and German) 223 pages AKAAKA