Kusakabe kimbei biography examples

1. Birth and Early Life
2. Apprenticeship and Studio Establishment
3. Acquisition of Notable Negatives
4. Career and Legacy

Birth and Early Life

Kimbei Kusakabe, born with a more complex surname, became known by his given name, Kimbei, to cater to his primarily European clientele who struggled to pronounce his family name.

Apprenticeship and Studio Establishment

Kusakabe worked as an assistant and colorist for renowned photographers Felice Beato and Raimund von Stillfried, gaining invaluable experience.

Each man rests his hand on a katana (long sword) slung at the hip; the man on the left grips a bow and arrows; and the man on the right holds a naginata, or pole-like weapon tipped with a blade. 1880s; and Three Samurais, n.d. He excelled at depicting the old-fashioned Japan that appealed to foreign customers.

Its central player tries to snatch a cup through a loosened knot before other players tighten the cord around her hand.[23] Scenes of beautiful women playing games and reading harked back to the customary subject matter of ukiyo paintings and prints.[24]

Kusakabe placed great emphasis on traditional costumes and bodily adornment.[25]Girls Showing the Back Style depicts three women turning their backs to the viewer to display their coiffures and the embroidered obi sashes securing their kimonos.

Most of his works were published in albums that are mounted in accordion fashion.

Kimbei Kusakabe died on November 11, 1934 in Japan at Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

Trained by European photographers in Japan, the Japanese photographer Kusakabe Kimbei (1831–1934) ran one of the most successful commercial studios in Yokohama.

Economic losses forced many samurai to sell their armor and other treasures to Western collectors. He usually went by his given name, Kimbei, because his clientele, mostly non-Japanese-speaking foreign residents and visitors, found it easier to pronounce than his family name.

Kusakabe Kimbei worked with Felice Beato in Yokahama as an assistant photo colorist beween 1856 and 1863 and also Baron Raimund von Stillfried as a photographic colorist and assistant before opening his own workshop in Yokohama in 1881 in the Benten-dori quarter, and from 1889 operating in the Honmachi quarter.

He later established a branch office in Tokyo's Ginza district.

Acquisition of Notable Negatives

In 1885, Kusakabe acquired the negatives of Beato, Stillfried, and Uchida Kuichi, expanding his collection further. Kusakabe also acquired some of Ueno Hikoma's negatives of Nagasaki.

He stopped working as a photographer in 1912-1913.

The picture gives little hint that Meiji women had begun to adopt foreign styles. His work played a significant role in documenting the modernization and Westernization of Japan during the Meiji era.

Kimbei Kusakabe (1841 — 1934) was a Japanese photographer, born in Kofu, Yamanshi Prefecture, Japan on November 3, 1841.

Geishas were also more comfortable than other Japanese women with having their pictures taken and commercially distributed.[26] Women and geishas in particular were among the most ubiquitous subjects of Japanese souvenir photography.

Hand-tinted albumen prints, 7 15/16 x 10 1/16 in., 7 7/8 x 10 3/8 in., 7 13/16 x 10 3/8 in., and 7 15/16 x 10 1/2 in. Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis. In 1881, he opened his own studio in Yokohama's Benten-dori district, relocating to Hommachi in 1889. Ironically, most of Kusakabe’s sitters were geishas, professional beauties known for embracing the latest fashions like Western-style bonnets and bustles.