Photograph or Moving Image by JapanesePhotographer/Artist
Inventory Number
84-PHJ-02J
Umesaka Ori was a proponent of the Geijutsu Shashin (Art Photography) movement that was popular from the Taisho Era (1912–1926) to the early part of the Showa Era (1926–1989). Using plants and landscapes as his main motifs, he produced photographs that mimicked the styles and expressions of painting, especially traditional Japanese painting. Umesaka specialized in a printing process called gum bichromate, for which he coated his paper with a gum arabic solution, placed and then exposed his negatives on it, and then developed them in cold water. The trick was to repeat this process over and over again until a multi-layered effect was achieved.
This image seems to capture the moist night air and the rippling of the waves. The viewer’s five senses are stimulated by the texture unique to gum bichromate printing and the fine gradation achieved by layering. A similar charm is present in all of Umesaka’s photographs.
(MATSUNAGA Shintaro)
Umesaka Ori was a proponent of the Geijutsu Shashin (Art Photography) movement that was popular from the Taisho Era (1912–1926) to the early part of the Showa Era (1926–1989). Using plants and landscapes as his main motifs, he produced photographs that mimicked the styles and expressions of painting, especially traditional Japanese painting. Umesaka specialized in a printing process called gum bichromate, for which he coated his paper with a gum arabic solution, placed and then exposed his negatives on it, and then developed them in cold water. The trick was to repeat this process over and over again until a multi-layered effect was achieved.
This image seems to capture the moist night air and the rippling of the waves. The viewer’s five senses are stimulated by the texture unique to gum bichromate printing and the fine gradation achieved by layering. A similar charm is present in all of Umesaka’s photographs.
(MATSUNAGA Shintaro)