Born in Saitama Prefecture,
Yusuke has worked as a freelance photographer since 2003. Having lived at length on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa and Oahu, Hawaii, he is currently based on the Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa Prefecture. Yusuke is a wildlife photographer specializing in underwater photography of large marine mammals like the dolphins of the Bahamas and Hawaii, humpback whales of Tonga, manatees of Florida, as well as coastal species like the polar bears of the Arctic and penguins of the Falkland Islands. After winning an Honorable Mention in the Nature Category of the 2009 National Geographic International Photo Contest, he took his photographic work to the world stage, which resulted in his award-winning photo of a manatee gracing the cover of books and educational materials around the world. His photograph of Japanese monkeys bathing in a hot spring was displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA. In Japan, he has photographed the main visuals for the Sony Aquarium, as well as providing works for corporate advertisements and calendars, and more.
Awards
- National Geographic Japan 2009 - Grand Prize
- National Geographic International Photography Contest 2009 - Honorable mention
- Nature's Best Photography Japan Photo Contest 2013 - Second Place
Photo books
- “KOTARO” (Shibuya Publishing & Booksellers) 2008
- “Penguin Being“ (Genkosha) 2019
- “Sound of echo, Song of blue” (Self-Published) 2020
- “Horses in the wind” (Self-Published) 2021
One autumn in Alaska.
I headed north along the Dalton Highway, snapping photos of the wildlife in the great outdoors.
I landed in Kaktovik on a Cessna in the hope of spotting a few polar bears.
This is a record of the day spent in that small village,
a day which the local guide and Inuits called a miracle.
It was simply wonderland.
“Wonderland” tells a colorful tale of autumn in Kaktovik, Alaska, through photographs taken 10 years ago by National Geographic Photography contest-winner YUSUKE OKADA.
It was a beautiful day, the calm sea reflecting the sky like a mirror.
The only ripples in the water were the shimmering wakes of swimming polar bears.
“You don't get weather this good that often”
The words of the Inuit skipper made me decide to take his boat out again at sunset.
We launched at 19:30; the sky becoming more vibrant by the moment.
A group of polar bears flocked around the remains of a whale, enveloped by the pinked sky
- a sight so out of this world it took my breath away.
Turning around, I saw a mother and her cubs swimming in a dazzling sea of orange, while the other cubs played along the shore.
Slowly over the course of an hour and a half, the rich colors that tinted the sky faded into the dark blue of night.
This has got to be what heaven is like.
The exhibition consists of 30 never-shown-before color prints of breath-taking scenery after 10 years of his hesitation.