Around the beginning of the 20th century Japanese photography made important advances in its artistic expression. Photography turned out to be the ideal voice for a new urbanite class. Amateur photography groups held annual exhibitions that drew large crowds and helped to raise the profile of artistic photography. Their subject matter tended to be romanticized landscapes that were characterized by their diffused light, the soft focus, and a strongly pigmented printing technique adding to the hazy and sometimes gloomy atmosphere. These pictures subsequently came to be known as 'artistic photographs' (geijutsu shashin).
This catalogue provides a comprehensive introduction to Japanese artistic photography from the pre-War period until 1945. 135 titles are illustrated and fully described together with important background information. Separate chapters deal with Modernist (shinko shashin), Avant-garde (zokei shashin), Advertising (kokoku shashin), as well as Propaganda photography.
