Naoya Hatakeyama is a leading figure in contemporary Japanese art. Since the mid-1980s, Hatakeyama has created a body of work concerned largely with the relationship between nature and cities. The subject of numerous books and exhibitions, such as Lime Works, River and Underground have received international critical acclaim. His Lime Works series, a study of the landscapes and architecture of limestone quarries, received the 22nd Kimura Ihei Memorial Photography Award in 1997. In 2001 he was the recipient of the 42nd Mainichi Award of Art for Underground (1999), an exploration of the normally unseen tunnels, rivers, and ecosystems of Tokyo's sewer network. During the same year he was chosen to represent Japan at the 49th Venice Biennale. The photographs in the previously unpublished series Atmos were made in En Camarque, Fos-sure Mer in 2003. Hatakeyama photographed this industrial area from two distinct perspectives: from inside the mill located within the town’s borders, and from the outskirts of the town itself. The former document the terrifying power of machines man builds to produce goods; the latter reveal the dream-like variations in the surrounding landscape: salt fields, calm waters and pastures.

In addition to numerous solo and group exhibitions, Hatakeyama's photographs are found in public collections including the National Museum of Art, Osaka; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; Swiss Foundation for Photography, Kunsthaus Zürich; Maison Europienne de la Photographie, Paris; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.