OYAKO is a project by photographer Bruce Osborn that consists of portraits of Japanese parents and their children. The images show differences in things like occupation and fashion between generations.



Note: There’s slight nudity below.

“OYAKO is the Japanese word for parent and child and is the title of a series I have been taking since 1982,” Osborn tells PetaPixel. “It all started with a magazine assignment to photograph punk musicians when I hit on the idea of photographing them with their parents.

“I thought it would be an amusing way to bring out the differences in lifestyles and fashions between the two generations, but what came back was infinitely more. The pictures revealed so much about family relations that it made me want to continue exploring this theme as a way of looking at Japanese society and the changes it goes through from one generation to the next.”

Osborn shot his first photos for the project in 1982, and it has since been an ongoing life-long series. He has done over 7,000 photo shoots thus far.

OYAKO was recently published as a book. Oyako: An Ode to Parents and Children is a 144-page paperback book featuring portraits Osborn has shot over three-and-a-half decades.

Image credits: Photographs by Bruce Osborn and used with permission