A new photography exhibition exploring the landscapes, cities and wildlife of Japan is opening at Creative Maidstone this November.

Sakura 桜 A Journey Through Japan brings together photographs taken by Maidstone-born photographer Oliver Bryant during two trips to Japan in 2025 and 2026. It will be open from Friday 6 to Tuesday 24 November 2026.

Visitors are invited to a free launch event on Saturday 7 November, from 2pm to 4.30pm. During the afternoon, Oliver Bryant will give a curator’s talk about his photographic practice and share some of the stories behind the exhibition.

The collection moves between urban and rural settings, colour and monochrome, with photographs taken in locations including Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Aomori. The images capture fleeting moments of beauty and quiet encounters between the natural and human worlds.

The exhibition takes its name from the Japanese word for cherry blossom. Sakura flowers across Japan for a short period each spring and has become associated with renewal and the temporary nature of life. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of hanami, or flower viewing, the exhibition encourages visitors to pause and consider the relationship between time, nature and moments that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

The exhibition also celebrates Maidstone’s historic connection with Japan. Maidstone  Museums is loaning two Edo-period Japanese woodblock prints, which will be displayed alongside Oliver Bryant’s contemporary photographs. The works are the final print from The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō by Utagawa Hiroshige, dating from around 1833, and Fine Wind, Clear Weather by Katsushika Hokusai, from his celebrated series, dating from around 1831. The historic prints create a connection between traditional Japanese printmaking and contemporary photography, while exploring shared themes including nature, observation and the passage of time.

Sakura 桜 A Journey Through Japan is Oliver Bryant’s first solo exhibition in the UK. Born in Maidstone in 1994, he developed his photography practice more seriously during the Covid-19 pandemic. He planned his travels around Japan’s cherry blossom forecast, journeying from Tokyo to Hakodate to photograph the sakura at the height of its bloom. The resulting images form the foundation of the exhibition.

Oliver Bryant is a member of the Disabled Photographers’ Society . His photograph , taken in Berlin, won the Disabled Photographers’ Society’s Preliminary Nature Print competition in 2025. He has also exhibited with in northern Tokyo.

The exhibition will be accompanied by the launch of Oliver Bryant’s first photography zine, also titled Sakura 桜 A Journey Through Japan, featuring a selection of work from the exhibition.

Exhibition details

Sakura 桜 A Journey Through Japan

Dates: Friday 6 to Tuesday 24 November 2026
Venue: Creative Maidstone
Launch and curator’s talk: Saturday 7 November, 2pm to 4.30pm
Admission: Free

• Find out more about Sakura 桜 A Journey Through Japan
• Book a free place for the curator’s talk
• Find out more about Creative Maidstone

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