The History of Japanese Photography.

Text by Anne Wilkes Tucker, Dana Friis-Hansen, Kaneko Ryuichi, and Takeba Joe.

Yale University Press, New Haven, 2003. 432 pp., 356 color illustrations, 9x12".

Over the past 150 years, Japanese photographers have created an impressive body of work that ranges from dignified imperial photographs 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. Written by a team of distinguished Japanese and Western scholars, this book establishes that photography began to play a vital role in Japanese culture soon after its introduction to Japan in the 1850s. Illustrated essays discuss the medium’s evolution and aesthetic shifts in relation to the nation’s historical and cultural developments; the interaction of Japanese photographers with Western photographers; the link between photography and other Japanese art forms; and photography as a record and catalyst of change. Handsomely designed and generously illustrated with beautiful duotone and color images, the book emphasizes not only the unique features of Japanese photography but also the ways it has influenced and been influenced by the country’s culture and society. Anne 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. This 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, Houston.
"What we know about the history of photography is less than what remains to be discovered," begins Tucker's introduction to this monumental volume. She continues, "The goal of this exhibition and catalogue is to present the first nuanced, thorough history of Japanese photography in a Western language, along with some of the finest extant examples of Japanese photography, to a broad audience." The work, limited to Japanese photographers (as opposed to photographs of Japan) is truly sweeping in scope, exhibiting an immense artistic diversity. The underlying intent of this project is summed up in the following exemplary statement. "Photography was one of the most powerful cultural forces in the twentieth century, and the extent of its influence will not be fully understood until we understand the patterns of its evolution worldwide."

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