Born in Tokyo in 1947, Kazuo Unno is a nature photographer specializing in insects. He has been fascinated with insects for as long as he can remember, and as a boy he spent all his free time collecting and observing butterflies. He studied insect behavior in the research laboratory of Hidaka Toshitaka at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. During his university years, his photograph of the mating rejection behavior of the sujiguro-shirocho (cabbage butterfly) was published in a magazine, and this set him on a path to becoming a freelance photographer.

Over many years Unno has photographed insect camouflage and mimicry in tropical rainforest regions of Asia and the Americas. In 1990, he established a studio in the city of Komoro in Nagano Prefecture, and began recording nature close at hand. In February 1999, he began his "Diary in Komoro," which is updated daily with digital photographs with comments attached.

Unno's book "Konchu no Gitai" (Camouflage and Mimicry of Insects), published by Heibonsha, won the Photographic Society of Japan's Award of the Year in 1994.