The History Of Japanese Photography

The History of Japanese Photography

Amazon.com ReviewExcept for the rare international superstar like Araki Nobuyoshi, known for his gamy shots of nude young women, Japanese photography is a closed book to Westerners. Yet it has a distinguished and vital tradition that has enriched every genre, from portraits to landscapes, with a unique blend of lyricism and candor. In The History of Japanese Photography, a wealth of captivating images and essays by seven scholars trace 140 years of stylistic and cultural evolution. In 1857 a local ruler had his portrait taken with a daguerreotype set brought to Nagasaki by a foreign ship. Eleven years later, official photographs of the emperor--never glimpsed in person by his subjectsbecame widely available. Photographers were increasingly called upon to document new Japanese territories, natural disasters, and wars. Visitors hankered after studio shots of geishas and other exotica. Beginning in the 1890s, upper-class amateur photographers contributed a new emphasis on aesthetics. In the 1930s exquisite Pictorialist images of natural beauty gave way to modernist influences from Berlin and Moscow, and thenin wartimeto a conservative emphasis on traditional rural life. Individual expression dominated postwar photography, as seen in such images as Tomatsu Shomeis haunting "Beer bottle after the atomic bomb explosion." Recent work reflects the dislocations of urban consumer society. Beautifully produced, with 356 color illustrations, this groundbreaking volume accompanies an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (March 2-April 27, 2003) that travels to the Cleveland Museum of Art (May 18-July 27, 2003). Cathy CurtisOver the past 150 years, Japanese photographers have created an impressive body of work that ranges from dignified imperial portraits to sweeping urban panoramas, from early ethereal landscapes to modern urban mysteries. Despite the richness, significance, and variety of this work, however, it has largely been neglected in Western histories of photography. This gorgeous and groundbreaking book - the first comprehensive account of Japanese photography from its inception in the mid-nineteenth century to the present day - reveals to English-speaking audiences the importance and beauty of this art form.Review. . . . [A]n eye-opening introduction to photographic and Japanese history in more than 200 pictures. . . . -- (Vicki Goldberg, New York Times)From the PublisherThis book accompanies an important exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (March 2-April 27, 2003), which will then travel to the Cleveland Museum of Art (May 18-July 27, 2003). Published in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonAbout the AuthorAnne Wilkes Tucker is the Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Dana Friis-Hansen is director of the Austin Museum of Art; Iizawa Ktaro is a photo historian and critic in Tokyo; Kaneko Ryuichi is a photo historian who has served as guest curator at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography since 1990; Kinoshita Naoyuki is assistant professor of cultural studies at the University of Tokyo; and Takeba Joe is a curator at the Nagoya City Art Museum