Sakura of Kersenbloesem before 1895

Kazumasa Ogawa made this photogravure of cherry blossoms, sometime around the turn of the 20th century. In Japan, the cherry blossom is called "sakura", and represents the beauty and fragility of life. Ogawa was a pioneer of photography and printing techniques in Meiji-era Japan, a period when Japan was modernizing rapidly and opening up to the West. Ogawa founded the first photographic printing company in Japan and was a key figure in introducing photogravure to the country. He was also part of the group that established the Japan Photographic Society. The photogravure process involves etching an image onto a copper plate and then using it to print the image, which allowed for a high level of detail and tonal range. Ogawa’s choice of this Western technology in the service of rendering such a quintessentially Japanese image speaks to the complex cultural negotiations underway during the Meiji era. Historians of art and photography look to sources such as period publications, business records, and the writings of artists and critics to better understand the cultural work that images like this performed at the time.