20th anniversary of Camera Japan Festival features interactive exhibition
Updated: Sep 14
Groningen, 2 October 2025 – The CAMERA JAPAN Festival is hosting its 20th edition between September 24 and Sunday, October 5. It is a cultural event that combines Japanese films, visual arts, music, fashion, architecture and food.
Jairo Alvarez (34), an Argentinian visual artist and photographer featured in PhotoVogue, participated in this year’s edition in Rotterdam. His work, as he explained, combines photography with different mediums.
“I also do set design, prop design. I also manipulate print photographs in order to create a surreal look,” an approach he takes to avoid digital manipulation.
Ganbatte, the Japanese word for “try your best” and the title of Jairo’s solo exhibition , mirrored his perspective of the culture as a duality.
“The modern life that is really busy and really focused on career […] and the side of Japan that is more connected to spirituality, hobbies, and arts that requires a lot of attention” represented the starting point for placing the “salaryman” at the centre of his project.
Posters of Ganbatte exhibition provided by Jairo Alvarez
The exhibition consisted of four installations visitors could interact with, one video and 22 prints. The video was projected on the ceiling, serving as the introduction to the concept. This was followed by a series of photos displayed in an order that matched the chronology Jairo envisioned for his series.
“I saw people laughing at some of the photos […] like a good reaction, because the photos have a bit of humor. I like to do it in that way.”
“I had the chance to talk to some Japanese people. […] They had some nice words about the exhibition.”, said Jairo regarding the hard work he put into the project.
Jairo is grateful for the support he received from the festival organisers and for having the chance to show his work in the event’s 20th edition. He is open to participating again, as he is visiting Japan again this year for another project.
Kento Fukunaga (27), a man from Tokyo, currently living in France, considers the cultural exchange through the festival a positive aspect. “Japan and the Western countries are very different, culture-wise, history-wise, and human-wise. […] It’s good that people know about Japanese culture.”
However, he believes that if people want to learn more about the culture, they need to go to Japan for that. “You can learn, feel, or see Japanese culture if you go to the event,” but in his opinion as a globetrotter, he prefers to go to a certain country in order to experience as much as possible.
Story initially published on Under the RUG
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