Japanse lelie before 1895

Kazumasa Ogawa made this photograph, “Japanse lelie,” using the collotype process. This reproductive technique allowed for the cheap and mass production of photographs, making them more widely available in Japanese society. Ogawa was a key figure in the development of photography in Japan during the Meiji era, a time when Japan was rapidly modernizing and opening itself to Western influences. He founded the first photographic studio in Tokyo and helped establish photography as both an art form and a commercial enterprise. This image speaks to the Japanese fascination with nature. The image, and its circulation, is not simply the result of one artist's vision, but the product of a whole set of social and economic relations. The history of photography itself, the development of new printing technologies, and the changing social status of art in Japan all play a role. By exploring these kinds of research resources, we can better understand the artwork.