Photographs as Encounters

No later than Japan’s forcible opening to international trade in 1853, images of Japan circulated widely throughout the Western world. Photographs came to be regarded as providing an “authentic” representation of a nation that had long been perceived as insular. In the United States, these images were pasted in albums, reproduced as stereographs, or printed as lithographs or wood engravings in illustrated publications. They did not merely serve as souvenirs or for educational purposes but were reproduced in various contexts to fulfil additional social and political functions. This book traces photographs from their production in Japan through their circulation and reception in the United States, analyzing photographs as sites of complex encounters and thereby giving insights into photography in relation to national attributions. Shows and analyzes some of the earliest photographs taken in Japan Photography in relation to national attributions