"Sitting Pretty: Portrait Photography and Gender in Meiji Japan," Karen Fraser - CJS Noon Lecture

December 03, 2009
12:00PM - 01:00PM, Room 1636, School of Social Work Building, 1080 S. University, Ann Arbor

Host Department: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Free and Open to the Public.

Further Information

This talk examines a range of gendered social practices connected to portrait photography in the second half of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Portraiture was one of the earliest and most widespread genres of photography in nineteenth century Japan. High prices and limited availability of both the necessary equipment and skilled photographers meant that only foreigners, the wealthy, or the well-connected had portraits made in the 1860s. However, by the late 1870s there were literally dozens of portrait photographers in Tokyo alone, and studios were found even in rural areas by the end of the century. Gender figured not only in the formal qualities of portrait photos, but in their functions as well. From miai (arranged marriage) to beauty contests to commemorating the war dead, portrait photographs revealed striking gender differences in their varied uses. Focusing especially on the intersection of portrait photography with print media and on portraits of women, the speaker explores the role of gender in portraiture and its connection to constructions of cultural identity.

 

Karen Fraser teaches in the Department of Art and Art History at Santa Clara University. Her research focuses on modern Japanese visual culture, particularly photography production and reception within Japan; the role of early photographic books in cultural exchange; and the relationship of photography to class, gender, and national identity.

 

Note: This lecture is part of CJS's special "History of Photograph" series.

 

Contact Information: 734.764.6307 or umcjs@umich.edu