Maidstone-born Oliver Bryant's photographs of Japan are on show free at Creative Maidstone until 24 November, with a launch and talk on Saturday 7 November.

A free exhibition of photographs of Japan by Maidstone-born photographer Oliver Bryant opens today at Creative Maidstone and runs until Tuesday 24 November.

Sakura: A Journey Through Japan is his first solo exhibition in the UK. The photographs come from two trips to Japan, in 2025 and 2026, and were taken in places including Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Aomori. The council announced the show on 3 November (Maidstone Borough Council).

There is a free launch on Saturday 7 November, from 2pm to 4.30pm, when Oliver Bryant will give a curator’s talk about his work and the stories behind the pictures. Places are free but booked through Eventbrite.

Two Edo-period prints from the town’s museum

Maidstone Museums is lending two Japanese woodblock prints to hang beside the photographs:

  • the final print from The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō by Utagawa Hiroshige, from around 1833
  • Fine Wind, Clear Weather by Katsushika Hokusai, from around 1831

The council says the loan marks Maidstone’s historic connection with Japan (Maidstone Borough Council).

Black and white photograph of snow-capped Mount Fuji above a bank of cloud, with a bullet train crossing a bridge in the foreground
Fuji and the bullet, one of the photographs in the exhibition. Photo: Oliver Bryant Photography, supplied by Maidstone Borough Council

Who the photographer is

Oliver Bryant was born in Maidstone in 1994. He took up photography more seriously during the pandemic, according to the council. He planned his Japan travels around the cherry blossom forecast, following the bloom from Tokyo to Hakodate.

He is a member of the Disabled Photographers’ Society and the Royal Photographic Society. His Berlin photograph Bearmusement won the society’s Preliminary Nature Print competition in 2025. Until this year his work had only been shown in online galleries, so this is his first physical show (Visit Maidstone).

A zine of the same name, with a selection of the exhibition’s photographs, launches alongside the show.

What it means for you
Where Creative Maidstone, Gabriel’s Hill, ME15 6JR, at the bottom of Gabriel’s Hill near the entrance to The Mall
When Friday 6 to Tuesday 24 November
Opening hours Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm; closed Sundays
Launch and talk Saturday 7 November, 2pm to 4.30pm, book a free place
Price Free

The opening hours and address are from Visit Maidstone’s listing. Creative Maidstone says it is about five minutes’ walk from the bus station and twelve minutes from Maidstone East or Maidstone West station (Creative Maidstone). The Mall car park is the nearest; see our guide to parking in Maidstone.

The launch falls on the same Saturday as the free Repair Café at Lockmeadow, which runs from 10am to 2pm (our story). For the rest of the month, see what’s on in Maidstone.