Painters 

Yamamoto Makihiko was one of the leading photographers of the prewar Pictorialism (or art photography) movement. Influenced by the work of Fuchikami Hakuyo, he began publishing his work in the photography magazine Geijutsu Shashin Kenkyu (Art Photography Research) and other magazines from the end of the Taisho Era (1912–1926) to the beginning of the Showa Era (1926–1989). It was the editor of Geijutsu Shashin Kenkyu, the photographer and critic Nakajima Kenkichi, who first identified his talent. Yamamoto used a single-lens Vest Pocket Kodak, which produced 4 x 6.5 cm photographs, and his style was characterized by soft focus, extreme cropping, and deformation. All three techniques are visible in this photograph, the composition of which also suggests the influence of a self-portrait by the Western-style painter Koide Narashige.
(KASHIWAGI Tomoh)