about
Kayla Isomura is an award-winning photojournalist based in Vancouver, B.C. As a multigenerational settler of Chinese and Japanese descent, Kayla’s interest in storytelling has been largely influenced by their family’s story of displacement. Through this lens, Kayla is often drawn to stories that focus on the intersections of identity, memory and place.
Most notably, Kayla produced The Suitcase Project, which made its debut at the Nikkei National Museum in 2018 and is currently touring. Their work has been published in the Globe and Mail, The Tyee and Megaphone, among others. Kayla is a graduate of the journalism program at Langara College and in 2022, completed a diploma in photojournalism from Loyalist College.
select clients
editorial
Canadian Geographic • The Globe and Mail • Megaphone • Nikkei Voice • The Tyee
commercial & npos
221A • Densho • Kikiai Collaborative • Museum of Vancouver • Simon Fraser University • Soft Bodies Studio • Sumo Sundays
Kayla acknowledges that the area presently called Vancouver is within the traditional, ancestral, unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. As a descendant of settlers, they recognize the past and ongoing dispossession and displacement of Indigenous peoples. Within their own work, they aim to foster an inclusive framework and are dedicated to learning how to practice solidarity.
exhibitions
2023
The Suitcase Project
Chilliwack Museum, Chilliwack, B.C.
2022
Resisters — group
Wing Luke Museum, Seattle, Wash.
The Suitcase Project
Sidney Museum, Sidney, B.C.
2020
The Suitcase Project
National Japanese American Historical Society, San Francisco, Calif.
2019
Feasting for Change — group
Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Vancouver, B.C.
The Suitcase Project
Arbutus Gallery, Cowichan Valley, B.C.
Journeying through Chinatowns — group
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, B.C.
2018
The Suitcase Project — solo
Nikkei National Museum, Burnaby, B.C.
honours & awards
2022
National Pictures of the Year, News Photographers Association of Canada
First place: Single multimedia
Better Newspapers Competition, Ontario Community Newspapers Association
Third place: Student photography
2021
National Pictures of the Year, News Photographers Association of Canada
Third place: Student photographer of the year
2018
Writing in the Margins, Briarpatch Magazine
First place: Photography category