Global Corporate Information

About one hundred of the world's leading photojournalists from 26 countries were sent to 53 African countries to photograph a day in the life on the African continent. The photographs that they captured with their lenses were used to create an amazing tapestry of images.

As a premier sponsor for this massive project, Olympus supplied the equipment. Many Olympus staff from Japan, Europe and the United States participated in the project and provided extensive backup support for the photographic work.

This project was launched to draw worldwide attention to the AIDS epidemic in Africa, with proceeds from the publication of a photographic book going to the Day in the Life of Africa AIDS Education Fund. As part of our efforts to inform the world about the significance of this project, Olympus has staged photographic shows in many parts of the world since 2003 with the cooperation of the United Nations as well as non-governmental, non-profit organizations.

In FY2007, Olympus received numerous requests to present the exhibition during the run-up to the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama in May 2008. It was staged at the Kanagawa Plaza for Global Citizenship in August, at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing in December, at the JICA Yokohama Center gallery in February 2008, and at the Japan Newspaper Museum in April 2008.

For those who cannot visit an exhibition venue, Olympus has established a Web-based gallery in four languages. In recent years, Olympus has worked to promote awareness of the Millennium Development Goals through this program.

There is a movement afoot in Japan to have the fourth Sunday in July celebrated as "Oyako Day^{Note 1}." Oyako means parent(s)-child(ren). The idea that inspired this campaign was that it would be wonderful to strengthen family bonds by dedicating one day each year to parent-child communication.

Olympus is working with photographer Bruce Osborn and his friends to popularize this concept. At the Super Photo Session in 2007, 100 parent-child groups were photographed, and in September the images were displayed in the Olympus Gallery. At the same time, Olympus held parent-child photograph and essay competitions.

This year the first Parent-Child Grand Prize competition was held. The winners were Mr. Tsutomo Sekine and his daughter Mari. Coming at a time when the public is becoming increasingly concerned about the falling birthrate and domestic violence, Olympus hopes this initiative will help people to rediscover parent-child bonds through photographs.

Olympus is cooperating in the training of world-class documentary photographers by supporting the Photo Field Work program established by the Nippon Photography Institute (NPI). Sebastião Salgado has agreed to act as honorary adviser for this program, which is the first of its type in the world.

In 2007 the second group of students experienced the challenges of photographic assignments by spending six months continually traveling throughout Asia. Olympus supported this pioneering initiative.

We provided extensive assistance in the operation of a blog, to which the students were able to post their photographs in real-time from overseas, and local Olympus Imaging Singapore (OIAP) staff helped the students to stage a photographic exhibition when they were in Singapore. Through this activity, Olympus is helping to train photojournalists capable of succeeding in the global arena.

Comments from an Instructor for the Overseas Photo Field Work Program

With the full support of Olympus, we staged an exhibition of photographs by the first group of overseas field work students in Seoul, South Korea in 2006. Photographs by the second group were exhibited in Singapore in 2007. The opportunity to exhibit photographs overseas while still at university was like a dream come true for the participants, and this valuable experience helped the students to expand their horizons considerably. In Singapore there were discussion sessions with local photographers, and we were also given the opportunity to visit two local media companies. All of this was made possible by the efforts of local Olympus staff, who showed great understanding and support for photographic education. As one of the instructors, I would like to express my sincere appreciation. –Taiji Igarashi–

The various events staged in 2007 for the Japan China Culture and Sport Exchange Year were designed to foster mutual understanding and commemorate the 35th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations. In December 2007 Olympus participated by presenting its "A Day in the Life of Africa" photograph exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing as approved activity No. 0293. The exhibition featured photographs of Africa taken by 100 photojournalists on a single day.

Free digital camera courses and camera checks for senior citizens
Since 2004, Olympus has been contributing to local communities by implementing the following initiatives for members of Senior Net Fukuoka at its Fukuoka Service Station.
·Digital photography courses (about once per month)
·Seasonal photography sessions (about four times annually)
·Free digital camera checks