Portret van een onbekende Japanse vrouw 1883 - 1885

This hand-colored albumen print of an unknown Japanese woman was made by the Italian photographer Adolfo Farsari. The image's visual codes – the subject's traditional hairstyle, her kimono – speak to the insular culture of Meiji-era Japan. Consider the social conditions that prompted its creation. After centuries of isolation, Japan opened its doors to the West, and photography studios sprang up catering to the Western fascination with the exotic East. Note how the woman is presented, demure and reserved, reinforcing prevailing stereotypes of Japanese femininity. But the image's hand-coloring also hints at the complex interplay between tradition and modernity in this period, as photography studios used traditional artistry to enhance new technologies. Delving into travel accounts, colonial archives, and the history of photography reveals the social and institutional contexts that shaped this image's creation and reception, reminding us that even seemingly simple portraits are embedded in complex histories of cultural exchange and representation.