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Photograph was a Western invention. We thus notice the same types of photographs as were common in the West, although the time-line was often different. We notice very few Japanese Daguerreotypes. There are more Ambrotypes. This was rather an accident of history. The opening of Japan but Comodore Perry (1853) ocurred at about the same time that the ambrotype process appeared. And not requiring a metal plate was a strong advantage in Japan. Both were done as cased images. The cased photographs in Japan were done in wood. Japan had few natural resources, but one they did have was wood. Of course American cases were made in wood, but they were always covered with leather or gutta perca and had brass or other metal frames inside. Albumen prints appeared (1860s). We have been able to find few 19th century CDVs and cabinet cards. We are not yet sure just how common CDVs and cabinet cards were in Japan. We do note cabinet cards being made at least into the early-1930s, by which time the format had been discontinued in the west. The later Japanese cabinet cards had silver nitrate rather than albumen prints. As in the West, we begin to see family snap shots after the turn-of-the 20th century. Snapshots are more common in Japan than anywhere else in Asia at the time because oif its advanced inbdustrial development which created wealth abnd raised wages. Even so, photography was not as common as in America and deurope, gain lsrgely because of economic reasons. Post card-back prints were not as common in Japan as in America. We are not yet sure about silver-nitrate prints with paper frames. We notice a huge surge in photography after World War II as part of both the prosperity arising from the Japanese economic miracle. Thus we begin to see increasing numbers of family snapshots.
Photograph was a Western invention. We thus notice the same types of photographs as were common in the West, although the time-line differed. One exceotion was the Daguerrotype. We notice very few Japanese Daguerreotypes. The Daguerreotype was invented in France (1839) and very popular in Europe and even more so America during the 1840s. At the time Japan was still a closed society. The refusal to deal with the outsude world ws strictly enforced by the ruling Shogun. Apparently by the time photography was accepted in Japan, other formts had been developed.
There are many more Ambrotypes than Daguerreotypes in Japan. This was rather an accident of history. The opening of Japan but Comodore Perry (1853) ocurred at about the same time that the ambrotype process appeared. And not requiring a metal plate was a strong advantage in pre-industrial Japan. Metal was still very expensive. Both were done as cased images. The cased photographs in Japan were done in wood. Japan had few natural resources, but one resource they did have was wood. Of course American cases were made in wood, but they were always covered with leather or gutta perca and had brass or other metal frames inside.
Albumen prints appeared in Japan at about the same time they did in the West (1860s). They were mostly done as CDVs and cabinet cards. We are not yet sure just how common CDVs and cabinet cards were in Japan. We have been able to find relatively few 19th century CDVs and cabinet cards. We are not yet sure if our search reflects an accurate reflection of actual prevalence, but as HBC expands in research effort, we are increasingly coming to this conclusion. We note more CDVs and cabinet cards than Ambrotype, but not nearly as many as in the West. We suspect that while CDVs and cabinet cards were less exoensive than Ambros, they were still too expenive for most Japanese workets as the country was just beginning to industrialize and much of the population was still peasant farmers who earned very little. Many of these prints we have found are portraits of affluent families and by the 20th century school portraits. CDVs and caninet cards were made over several decades. We do note cabinet cards being made at least into the early-1930s, by which time the format had been discontinued in the west. The later Japanese cabinet cards had silver nitrate rather than albumen prints.
As in the West, we begin to see family snap shots after the turn-of-the 20th century. Snapshots are more common in Japan than anywhere else in Asia at the time because of its advanced industrial development which created wealth and raised wages. Even so, hotography was not as common as in America and Europe, again largely because of economic reasons. Thus early Japanese snpshots are more depictions of the well-to-do thn in the West. Post card-back prints were not as common in Japan as in America.
We are not yet sure about silver-nitrate prints with paper frames.
We notice a huge surge in photography after World War II as part of both the prosperity arising from the Japanese economic miracle. Thus we begin to see increasing numbers of family snapshots. And Japanese companies become some of the most important in poroficing high-qiality modestly priced camneras. We also see Fuji becominmg a major produce of photographic film.
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