I have come to the conclusion that Hiroshi Watanabe can go anywhere, shoot anything, and always find the humanity, beauty, poignancy, and soul of a country or a person. I’m not alone in that thought. Hiroshi won the Center’s Project Competition this year, won the coveted Critical Mass Book Award resulting in his monograph, Findings, and was the Aperture Portfolio Pick in 2006. It’s just about as close to a triple crown winner as one can get.

As a friend, I am proud and happy for him, but as a photographer, I am awed by his continual ability to see the world with such grace and insight. The images below reflect some of Hiroshi’s observations of the world and work from Ideology in Paradise, reflections on life in North Korea.