Post by Chris Wolfe on Jul 25, 2005 16:29:18 GMT -5
LAUREN LIPOVIC
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Have you ever wondered how photography spread across the world in earlier societies? Well, in the 1800’s traveling was a rare occasion, therefore making new inventions and techniques difficult to share with other peoples. More so than other nations, Japan turned its energy towards domestic issues during this time. Until Commodore Mathew Perry was sent to expand foreign relations. So one hundred and fifty years ago the Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed by the United States and Japan in Yokohama.
Thankfully, Perry did not travel alone. A daguerreotypist (one who produces an early form a photography on a silver or a silver covered copper plate) accompanied him on his mission to Japan. Today,
this man’s work is known to us in the form of lithograph copies. Americans were intrigued with the Japanese culture as perceived by Perry’s journey and in later years, by photographs taken by westerners in Japan.
Japanese diplomats visited New York for the first time in 1860; upon their arrival they were the subjects of many photographs. This visit was also the inspiration for a poem written by Walt Whitman around this time.
Shortly after this visit, photography studios were organized in Japan, where photographs of Japanese landscapes and culture were made for worldwide distribution.
This is only one example of how the works of artists, writers, and photographers culturized the growing world at a time when traveling was scarce and the thirst for knowledge was not. In this way, people could see foreign nations without actually being there.
E-mail this reporter at:
photoassteditor@yahoo.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Have you ever wondered how photography spread across the world in earlier societies? Well, in the 1800’s traveling was a rare occasion, therefore making new inventions and techniques difficult to share with other peoples. More so than other nations, Japan turned its energy towards domestic issues during this time. Until Commodore Mathew Perry was sent to expand foreign relations. So one hundred and fifty years ago the Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed by the United States and Japan in Yokohama.
Thankfully, Perry did not travel alone. A daguerreotypist (one who produces an early form a photography on a silver or a silver covered copper plate) accompanied him on his mission to Japan. Today,
this man’s work is known to us in the form of lithograph copies. Americans were intrigued with the Japanese culture as perceived by Perry’s journey and in later years, by photographs taken by westerners in Japan.
Japanese diplomats visited New York for the first time in 1860; upon their arrival they were the subjects of many photographs. This visit was also the inspiration for a poem written by Walt Whitman around this time.
Shortly after this visit, photography studios were organized in Japan, where photographs of Japanese landscapes and culture were made for worldwide distribution.
This is only one example of how the works of artists, writers, and photographers culturized the growing world at a time when traveling was scarce and the thirst for knowledge was not. In this way, people could see foreign nations without actually being there.
E-mail this reporter at:
photoassteditor@yahoo.com