| Kenro Izu | |
| Native Name: | 井津 建郎 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Place: | Osaka |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Alma Mater: | Nihon University |
| Known For: | photography |
| Website: | http://kenroizu.com/ |
is a Japanese-born photographer based in the United States.[1] He is the founder of children's charity Friends Without a Border, for which he has received two awards. He has also been awarded for his photography.
Izu attended Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo from 1969-1972. After moving to the United States in 1972, he spent two years working as a photo assistant in New York City and subsequently established his own studio, specializing in still life photography. Since 1979, in addition to his well established commercial work, Kenro began his serious professional commitment to his fine art photography, traveling the world to capture the sacred ancient stone monuments in their natural settings. He traveled and documented Egypt, Syria, Jordan, England, Scotland, Mexico, France and Easter Island (Chile).
He has also focused on Buddhism and Hindu monuments in South East Asia: Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Vietnam and India. Through them, he captures profound beauty with natural states of decay. Izu is the recipient of the 2007 Lucie Awards’ Visionary Photographer award, and was published by En Foco's photographic journal Nueva Luz.
In 1996 Izu founded Friends Without a Border, an organization devoted to raising funds for children’s hospitals in Cambodia. Profits from select prints sales and his book, Light Over Ancient Angkor, are donated to this cause.
In 2007, Izu was awarded the Pacesetter Award from New York Hospital Queens, the highest award presented by the medical center.[2] Kenro was honored at NYHQ's "A Spring Night Gala" for his leadership and humanitarian efforts to heal, nurture, and protect innocent life in Cambodia. Also in 2007, Kenro was the recipient of the Honorary Visionary Award by the Lucie Awards.[3]
In 2014, Izu was given a World of Children Award. The award has been called the "Nobel Prize for Child Advocates" is the only global recognition honoring individuals for serving vulnerable children worldwide.[4]