Kazuko Kuwabara

Biography

Kazuko Kuwabara (桑原和子) born Choi Hwa-ja (최화자 / 崔華子) is a South Korean-born resident of Japan and the central subject of the documentary A Portrait of Photography (2025). As the wife and interpreter of legendary photojournalist Shisei Kuwabara, the film highlights her 55 years of profound personal sacrifice, extreme loneliness, and quiet resilience behind his historic one-million-cut archive. Her perspective provides a deeply moving narrative about the hidden domestic and human costs behind capturing East Asia's turbulent modern history.