Ogawa Kazumasa was a successful Japanese photographer in Meiji period. He was said as the starter in the improvemnet of Japanese photography and photomechanical printing. He was born in Saitama, under the Matsudaira Samurai clan. At the age of fifteen, he started learning English and photography. In 1882, he went to Boston for getting skills of portrait photography and dry plate process. He also studied collotype printing there. He opened Tokyo’s first photographic studio after his return to Tokyo in 1884. In1889, He also established collotype business, Ogawa Syashin Seihanjyo, which was also the first attempt in Japan. On the same year, he worked as an editor for Syashin Shinpo, which was the only photo journal obtainable at that time. Ogawa Kazumasa was also one of the founders of the Japanese Photographic Association.
Most of the photos that he took in his early years have landscapes like forest and river or architecture like temples and shrines. We can see the beauty of old Japanese times from his pictures. However, in honor of the opening of Ryounkaku in 1891, he was asked to take pictures of 100 attractive geisha in Tokyo. His photos have beautiful and well-balanced compositions. He has created many beautiful pictures with brilliant colors by exploiting his printing skills.
This is one of the most famous works of Kazumasa. Until recently, this picture was printed on the1,000 note. His name is Natsume Soseki, who was a Japanese novelist and essayist. This was one of finest portraits of Soseki’s, which we can clearly see and easily recognize his face. As we compare to Soseki’s other portrait, we can definitely tell that Kazumasa had well-developed skills at that time. Soseki was known for his struggles with many diseases through his life. The look of him in this picture expresses his warm, kind, but sensitive personality. The asymmetry composition is what we seldom see in old Japanese portraits, however it is very beautiful. Ogawa Kazumasa was an important photographer who had influenced the improvement of Japanese photography today.
Shigeo Gocho was a Japanese photographer who focused on people throughout his life. He was born in Niigata, a small town in Japan. He suffered from thoracic vertebra caries as a child and was told he wouldn’t live beyond 20. Though he lived until the age of 38, the disease handicapped him physically so he had to walk with a stick even when he went out for taking pictures.His journey to being a photographer started in Tokyo. He left his hometown for Tokyo to be a graphic designer when he was 18. His teacher saw his photo he did for graphic design work, and realized his talent for composition so encouraged him to study photography.He has three famous photo series, “Days” (1971) , “Self and Others” (1977), “Familiar Street Scenes” (1981). Almost all his photos are black and white. “Familiar Street Scenes” is the only color series.
He focused on daily scenes that no one normally pays attention. His photos are enough impressive singly. However when we look through a whole picture series, we can feel different impressions like a narrative story. These pictures make us feel his affection for lives of people and the world itself.“Self and Others” is composed of 59 pictures of people, twins, children, his childhood or his portrait. He wandered around towns and asked people to participate in his pictures. Almost all people in this series are aware of the camera except for the first picture of a baby and the last one.
The above large picture is the last one. Some children are running into what seems to be mist. We can’t identify the children on this picture from the viewer’s perspective. We don’t know who they are or where they are going. This is an important difference from other pictures of this series. We can imagine them to be Gocho himself, or perhaps they can even be ourselves. Also children don’t have distinct identity yet. That not only support the above idea but also means children have a great capacity of changing and developing. So we can see hope for the future and Gocho’s wish in this picture. This picture makes us think about the meaning of “Self and Others”.
Man and Woman #24, 1960
Hosoe Eikou is a Japanese photographer first famous for his book of photographs named “Man and Women ”. His father gave him a camera when he was fifteen years old in 1950 At that time Japan was under US occupation, so people doesn’t have freedom of expression he started his career from this year.“Man and Woman” was published in 1960 year of the US-Japan Security Treaty. Many Japanese university students felt an antipathy against America, which meant it was really difficult to communicate American people. But he found only strategy going through such situation is to take photo of Americans as his art works. He often visited fort and take pictures of American children.
His father gave him a camera when he was fifteen years old in 1950 At that time Japan was under US occupation, so people doesn’t have freedom of expression he started his career from this year. Then he found one picture that he took a kid wearing hat was well described his frustrated situation, and he wan a prize with it. One picture he took triggered him to be a photographer.
Then he entered an advertising agency. Besides working at company, he kept shooting his own work. At that time he wanted to make photos theatrical. Which means reducing concept like personality and individual. In that respect, “Man & Woman” was obviously challenging.
The top left photo taken in 1960. The book evaluated the way of abstract represented men and woman’s body.
The photographed models were famous contemporary dancer Hijikata Tatsumi and female dancer. Models have perfectly sexy body but Hosoe describe their nude as anti erotic that because he tried to inspire viewer’s huge arrange of interpretation. He shoot models as a beautiful object. So the work could tell us just about objects, but we can receive different feeling depends on individual heart. Hosoe ‘s work has been herald of photo art since he archive concept of theatrical photo.
Photographer Oliver Wasow was born in Madison,Wisconsin in 1960. Now, he is 46 years old and living in New York City. He is teaching for student to Digital Imaging and Photo Critique at School of Visual Arts of Bard College in NY. Before that, he was also teaching at some university. At the same time, He is taking pictures that are magazines, CD covers, and book covers. In 2000, he produced an eight-minute digital animation collaboratively with Nancy Dwyer. This short movie “somewhere else” was a public art project for them. He received be awarded a prize that NYSCA Photography Fellowship in 1988, Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant in 1995, NYFA Grant in 2000. 
He is almost taking pictures about a landscape. So, he often go to journey to different countries because of take beautiful pictures. People are thinking his picture remind of Science Fiction. His pictures have brilliant and glow. When you see these pictures for the first time, you feel they were like a painting. His woks are having realistic and impractical.
The above picture is a Kabuki Theater taken in Kyoto, Japan. It is having effect that water and light. The light looks like a space ship. And, the water is shining by the reflection of light. It is strange that we can not imagine. So, people who see these pictures will be captive.
Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and photo journalist. She was born in the Bronx, New York in 1906. She studied at Columbia University, and while there she was interested in photograph. After switching colleges several times, she started her career as an industrial photographer at the Otis Steel Company. In 1930, she became the first Western photographer allowed into the Soviet Union, and was the first female photo journalist for Life Magazine.
She took a picture of the Fort Peck Dam as a construction photographer, and this photograph became an iconic image that it was featured as he 1930’s representative to the United States Postal Service’s Celebrate the Century series of commemorative postage stamps. As the photo journalist “My insatiable desire to be on the scene when history was being made was never more nearly fulfilled.” she wrote in her book. Bourke-White’s way of grasp the subject, classical composition, and refined sensitivity to the human condition combined to create remarkable photographs.
I think this photograph tells us how African American were suffering at this time. They are making a line for something, such as for food, job, bus, and so on, in front of billboard that shows “the American life”. However A white family look very happy in their car, and are driving for somewhere with smile, they were just waiting regarding it as unimaginable thing. At the same time, I feel the strength of African American people. No one hang their head, but look straight ahead. Margaret tellingly encapsulate the history of America’s ironic moment.
Destiny Deacon is a leading Australian Indigenous (aboriginal) contemporary artist /photographer. She was born in Queensland as the child of former inhabitant family of Erub-Mer tribe, and raised in Melbourne. Since she is an Aborigine, she shows harsh reality through her photography; how the native people are criticized and discriminated by the society and culture. She just had her exhibition in Japan this spring which was titled as “Walk & Don’t Look Blak”.
Through photography, she expresses how she feels on the topic of discrimination of Aborigines in Australia. At the first sight, it looks very colorful and pretty. But after looking at her work very carefully you’ll find the real meaning that she put in her work. There is a gap of appearance and real meaning in her photography that makes people feel a little scary. For example, in the photograph on the right which is called “meloncholy”, a black skin baby’s head is cut off. It shows that the identity of Indigenous / Aborigine have been fading away. She often uses objects that are very familiar such as dolls or souvenir ornament and this is what makes her work original and unique. Those dolls’ skin are painted in black and they are put in offensive situations in the photographs. Also most of her works are scanned from Polaroids. Polaroids have a rough resolution, hence the warm feelings that are produced in her photography. 
The picture on the middle is called “Adoption”. The picture shows many black baby dolls on cases of cupcake, and this is the way of Deacon to explain about the baby adoption. The images of cupcake are happy feelings such as party, sweet, kid, colorful, easy, but also, cheap. This implies the Aborigine’s scarce condition that leads to affiliation. Although the photograph is telling us these serious and poor situations that are happening in indigenous people, the photograph looks very lovable and snug. The contrast between the appearance and the meaning is very interesting. 
By the way, Dianne Jones (the photograph on the left) is another photographer who deals with the topic of indegenous identity and the history background. This photograph on the above is one of her work and is called “Jones’ Picnic”. The happily looking family of Wamatji looking just like white family, in the jungle, through this photograph she tries to tell the audiences that requirement of adapting to survive. 
