NYPL Releases Hand-Colored 19th-Century Japanese Photos
The New York Public Library Digital Collections has released a gallery of hand-colored photographs from 19th-century Japan, capturing traditional life during a period of rapid modernization. Photography arrived in Japan in 1848 with the first daguerreotype camera, and by the 1850s Dutch photographers introduced newer techniques via the trading post of Dejima in Nagasaki. The images, dating from the 1870s to the early 20th century, depict samurai in armor, women performing chores, and intimate garden scenes. A key figure was Kusakabe Kimbei, who studied under Italian-British photographer Beato and opened a large-scale studio in Yokohama in 1881. The collection documents both daily life and the emergence of hand-colored photography as an art form.
Key facts
- NYPL Digital Collections released hand-colored photos from 19th-century Japan.
- Photography arrived in Japan in 1848 via a daguerreotype camera.
- Dutch photographers brought new techniques through Dejima in Nagasaki in the 1850s.
- Images date from the 1870s to early 20th century.
- Kusakabe Kimbei was a key hand-coloring photographer.
- Kimbei studied under Beato, an Italian-British photographer.
- Kimbei opened a studio in Yokohama in 1881.
- The collection includes samurai, women, and garden scenes.
Entities
Artists
- Kusakabe Kimbei
- Beato
- Felice Beato
- Kimbei
- Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
- Sharaku
- Hokusai
- Josh Jones
Institutions
- New York Public Library Digital Collections
- NYPL Digital Collections
- New York Public Library
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Open Culture
Locations
- Japan
- Nagasaki
- Dejima
- Yokohama
- Tokyo Bay
- Durham
- NC