[A Japanese Woman and a Japanese Boy in Traditional Dress]

Art Historical Context

This captivating albumen silver print, created by Japanese photographer Suzuki Shin'ichi in the 187s, captures a woman and young boy dressed in elegant traditional attire. Measuring approximately 10 by 8 inches, the image was produced from a glass negative and then delicately hand-colored, a technique that brought vibrant life to early photographs. Such works were popular during Japan's Meiji era, when artists blended Eastern subjects with Western photographic methods to create souvenirs for international audiences. The portrait reflects a moment of cultural transition, as Japan opened to the...

About the Artist

Suzuki Shin'ichi · 1835–1919

Suzuki Shin'ichi (1835–1919) was a Japanese photographer who worked during a period of extraordinary transformation in both Japanese society and the history of the photographic medium. Active during the Meiji era, when Japan was engaged in a sweeping process of modernization and opening to the world, Suzuki belonged to the generation of early Japanese photographers who helped define what photograp...