Tsutomu Yamagata (b. 1966, Japan) is a documentary photographer based in Tokyo, represented by Zen Foto Gallery. Raised in Tokyo, Yamagata majored in Law at Law department, Keio University. Following many years at Business Planning Department and Human Resource Department of an energy industry, he gradually became involved with photography, later leaving his job to pursue it. He went on a long journey to Asia and Europe taking documentary pictures. He taught himself photography at the age of 35, and after attending photography workshops with Satoru Watanabe and Issei Suda, started exhibiting in Tokyo and China. He makes photo-essays for magazines, and is also a lecturer at the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Cultural Center. In 2012, he became a member of the Japan Professional Photographers Society, published his photobook Thirteen Orphans, and exhibited at photo festivals in Japan, USA, and France to critical acclaim. In 2013, he attended Review Santa Fe, was selected for Photolucida’s Critical Mass Top 50, and received a prize at the LensCulture Portrait awards.