Japanese Photography: A Tale Of Two Artists

There's no way you can really reduce the photographic history of a place to just a few artists, let alone two. But the curators at L.A.'s J. Paul Getty Museum are trying — in the forthcoming exhibition, Japan's Modern Divide.

By focusing on two artists, the show will examine how, as Japan faced westernization, photography diverged in two general directions: Hiroshi Hamaya's documentary style centered on Japan's traditional culture, while Kansuke Yamamoto's avant-garde art more closely aligned with French surrealism.

1 of 12  — The Village up on a Cay, Aomori Prefecture, 1955

The Village up on a Cay, Aomori Prefecture, 1955

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

2 of 12  — Blind Musicians, Niigata Prefecture, 1956

Blind Musicians, Niigata Prefecture, 1956

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum

3 of 12  — Man in a Traditional Minobashi Raincoat, Niigata Prefecture, 1956

Man in a Traditional Minobashi Raincoat, Niigata Prefecture, 1956

Hiroshi Hamaya / The J. Paul Getty Museum

4 of 12  — Yaichi Aizu, Poet, Calligrapher, and Japanese Art Critic, 1947

Yaichi Aizu, Poet, Calligrapher, and Japanese Art Critic, 1947

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum

5 of 12  — The United States-Japan Security Treaty Protest, Tokyo, May 20, 1960

The United States-Japan Security Treaty Protest, Tokyo, May 20, 1960

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

6 of 12  — The United States-Japan Security Treaty Protest, Tokyo, June 15, 1960

The United States-Japan Security Treaty Protest, Tokyo, June 15, 1960

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

7 of 12  — The United States-Japan Security Treaty Protest, Tokyo, June 19, 1960

The United States-Japan Security Treaty Protest, Tokyo, June 19, 1960

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

8 of 12  — Eruption at Mount Tokachi, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, 1962

Eruption at Mount Tokachi, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, 1962

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

9 of 12  — Calendar Days of Asa Hamaya, circa 1948-49

Calendar Days of Asa Hamaya, circa 1948-49

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

10 of 12  — Children Singing in a Snow Cave, Niigata Prefecture, 1956

Children Singing in a Snow Cave, Niigata Prefecture, 1956

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

11 of 12  — Sai no Kami (Fire Festival, New Year's Ritual), 1940-46

Sai no Kami (Fire Festival, New Year's Ritual), 1940-46

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

12 of 12  — Peaks of Takachiho Volcano, Kagoshima and Miyazaki Prefectures, Japan, 1964

Peaks of Takachiho Volcano, Kagoshima and Miyazaki Prefectures, Japan, 1964

Hiroshi Hamaya / Courtesy of the Getty Museum

The two men didn't necessarily know each other, but there were some parallels between them: Only a year apart in age (Yamamoto was born first, in 1914), they both learned to photograph in high school. Both grew up in cities; Hamaya was the son of a detective in Tokyo, and Yamamoto's family "had basically brought photography to Nagoya," says Amanda Maddox, co-curator of the show with Judith Keller.

And both photographers were aware of what was happening in the West. Yet Yamamoto, who was independently wealthy, never really left Nagoya. And, says Maddox, "it's fair to say that [he] is still relatively unknown within Japan."

1 of 6  — My Thin-Aired Room, 1956

My Thin-Aired Room, 1956

Kansuke Yamamoto / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

2 of 6  — Reminiscence, 1953

Reminiscence, 1953

Kansuke Yamamoto / Anne and David Ruderman

3 of 6  — Stapled Flesh, 1949

Stapled Flesh, 1949

Kansuke Yamamoto / The Collection of Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck

4 of 6  — The Man Who Went Too Far, 1956

The Man Who Went Too Far, 1956

Kansuke Yamamoto / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

5 of 6  — A Chronicle of Drifting, 1949

A Chronicle of Drifting, 1949

Kansuke Yamamoto / Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

6 of 6  — Butterfly, 1970

Butterfly, 1970

Kansuke Yamamoto / Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum

Hamaya, on the other hand, "was very well-known in Japan by the '50s," says Keller. He was one of the first to do aerial photography in the country. Early on, he received an assignment on Japan's snowy, rural west coast and "decided that he wanted to photograph in rural Japan and represent ... how they were being left behind by the westernization of the country," Keller says.

A few photos in a blog post about an exhibit of a few photos by two men barely scratch the surface of Japanese photography. But before this show, Keller says, "so little was known in English about either one of these photographers." And Keller and Maddox suggest that there's more to come.

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