Akito Tsuda
{{short description|Japanese photographer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Akito Tsuda
| image = TsudaAkito2017.jpg
| alt = Photograph of Akito Tsuda at 2017 exhibition of Pilsen Days at La Catrina Cafe in Chicago.
| caption = Tsuda in 2017 at La Catrina Cafe in Chicago
| native_name = 津田 明人
| native_name_lang = Japanese
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1966}}
| birth_place = Hamamatsu, Japan
| nationality = Japanese
| alma_mater = Columbia College Chicago
| occupation = Photographer
| notable_works = Pilsen Days
| website = {{URL|http://akitotsuda.wixsite.com/akitotsuda}}
}}
{{Nihongo|Akito Tsuda|津田 明人|Tsuda Akito|born 1966 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka}} is a Japanese photographer.{{cite web|title=Akito Tsuda Returns to Chicago from Japan for Photography Exhibition of Pilsen in the Nineties|url=https://www.colum.edu/news-and-events/press-releases/2017/akito-tsuda-returns-to-chicago-from-japan-for-photography-exhibition-of-pilsen-in-the-nineties.html#.WfTTRoGPLrc|website=Columbia College Chicago|accessdate=28 October 2017}} Tsuda has published works focused on subjects in Chicago, Osaka, and Tokyo. His work has been exhibited in Japan, Italy, and the United States. He has been recognized for his work documenting the Latino residents of the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago in the early 1990s.
Biography
Tsuda was born in 1966 in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture.
In 1989, Tsuda left Japan for the United States on a work visa, and lived in Winnetka, Illinois for a short time. He then moved to the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago and studied photography at Columbia College Chicago.{{cite news|last1=Serrato|first1=Jacqueline|title=Japanese photographer returns with unseen photos of '90s Mexican Pilsen|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/hoy/ct-hoy-japanese-photographer-returns-with-unseen-photos-of-90s-mexican-pilsen-20170811-story.html|accessdate=28 October 2017|work=Hoy|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=11 August 2017}} One of Tsuda's school projects at Columbia was to document his neighborhood, and his work depicted some of the streets between Halsted Street to Western Avenue and 16th Street to Cermak Road. These works were first made available in a self-published book called made me better than before,{{cite web|title=made me better than before|url=http://akitotsuda.wixsite.com/akitotsuda/made-me-better-than-before|website=Akito Tsuda|accessdate=28 October 2017}} which had limited circulation and promptly sold out. Tsuda created a second edition of the book called Pilsen Days in 2016 after getting feedback from Pilsen residents.{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Mark|title=Outsider who captured 'poor … but happy' Pilsen welcomed—again|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/brown-outsider-who-captured-poor-but-happy-pilsen-welcomed-again/|accessdate=28 October 2017|work=Chicago Sun-Times|date=28 October 2017|language=en}}
Exhibitions and recognition
Tsuda's work has been exhibited in Milan,{{cite web|title=Akito Tsuda – Breath in breath out {{!}} Artribune|url=http://www.artribune.com/mostre-evento-arte/akito-tsuda-breath-in-breath-out/|website=Artribune|accessdate=28 October 2017|language=Italian|date=18 March 2015}} Tokyo,{{cite web|title=Akito Tsuda|url=http://rcc.recruit.co.jp/gg/artist/akito-tsuda?lang=en|website=Guardian Garden|accessdate=28 October 2017}} and Chicago.{{cite web|title=Events|url=http://culturainpilsen.com/events/|website=Cultura in Pilsen|accessdate=28 October 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028204241/http://culturainpilsen.com/events/|archivedate=28 October 2017|date=10 October 2017}} In May 2001, Tsuda won the Hitotsuboten, a Tokyo-based annual contest for graphic design and photography for his solo exhibition titled {{nihongo|Robō no Neko|路傍の猫||trans. "Street Cat"}}.{{cite web|title=津田明人「路傍の猫」|url=http://rcc.recruit.co.jp/gg/exhibition/gg_gpx_ph_200103/gg_gpx_ph_200103.html|website=ガーディアン・ガーデン|accessdate=28 October 2017|language=ja}}