Kajima Seizaburo Ainu 1895

I searched the interweb and sadly but obvious, there is no information on the photographer Kajima Seizaburo. Above is a photo of his depicting an older Ainu man. I think the first thing people of any nationality or cultural background (except Ainu of course) would find his attire peculiar. I am not really sure how to describe his “tunic” other than it would be comparable to wearing only shorts during this time. I am not sure if Japanese men would wear something similar to this unless maybe working outside? I am not sure. But I could imagine Japanese of this day referring to him as barbaric. More so that he is Ainu than his clothing. The Ainu man’s gaze is pretty cool. It seems to be a positive gaze. It looks that his eyes are closed (although I can’t tell because of the shading) but you can see that his brow is tense. Looks as though he is focusing on that pipe pretty hard.

A lot of times I hear the Ainu being compared to the Native American Indians and how their histories with invading cultures are pretty similar. So this image of an Ainu man sitting Indian style out in the wilderness (in his case it looks like a wasteland) smoking a pipe reminds me of an image of a native American sitting around a fire enjoying a peace pipe. However I am not sure if this pipe is any different from a Japanese one.

What is pretty cool is how cultural differences really play a part in this photo. A Japanese man or woman of this time would, most likely, would be shocked of his dress and his long grey beard (things that are different, scary) and would most likely view this man as being of at least a lesser nature than themselves An Ainu man or woman however would see this photo and in a calm voice say “Oh hey, its Cletus.”

Five Image Album

14

A woman decides to go for a midday stroll through the garden. There was a great sense of leisure in her step as if she had forgotten of her duties as a woman. The only reason a woman should be outside should be to hang my laundry. Even if this was a high class woman, her time-wasting ability to admire the flowers is incredibly pointless. She didn't plant them.

58

A group of girls are just leaving school. I asked around and found out that the school they are intending is indeed a Catholic school. Despite being a 'Catholic' school it is nice to know that the word of the lord is finding its way into the hearts and minds of the country's youth. They will not be doomed to an eternity in hell like their heathen parents. But I did notice their skirts seem to be a bit high...

64

Never did I find an event in Japan as amusing as this. A group of women, Japanese women, attempting to play the great American sport of basketball. It is nice to know that American customs are being adopted here but never did I want to see the sport desecrated in such a way. Despite the poor performance they put forth an admirable great deal of effort. I find it very amusing that they were able to try as hard as they did in their school uniforms

65

A quite frightening scene during my stay in Japan. During school they seem to put the female students through a series of military style drills. Never should a woman waste her time with such a thing. I don't see how this will make her able to make a better sandwich. Despite the awkwardness they showed an incredible physical effort. I would not be surprised if the lazy whipper snappers back home would not be able to do half the drills these women were able to do at such a high level of proficiency.

66

I am not at liberty to tell you how or why I came across this event. All I can say is that I find it very strange. Two ladies sleeping so close to each other, in the same bed! Yes, strange indeed...

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As you could tell I tried to have fun by adopting the persona of a man particularly ignorant to other cultures. I pictured maybe a blue-collared man from the deep south USA. So these images are all in relation with his sense of fascination with Japanese women.

Globetrotters' People

Above is an image of a Japanese pipe seller. He is located on the streets of I don't know where. This image came without a description. The pipe seller appears to be making or maybe repairing a pipe as he waits for business. But the greatest thing about this image is that he is ignoring the camera. This is an older gentleman who I believe even if he was asked to "hey smile for the camera" he would not. I am not sure if the photographer conversed with the pipe seller before this picture was taken but I would like to think that he did and the pipe seller being an old man, ignored him. The old man displays a intra-diagetic gaze, focusing on his work. I guess I like this photo becuase it is unlike the extravagant, exaggerated, and staged photos we have seen before.

Source

Globetrotters' Places

Above is an image of Yokohama's main street. The reason I chose this photo is becuase besides a couple elements I would not think this is a street in Japan. The houses from this level look very western. The small coaches, besides probably being man-powered, look very western themselves. Our only real clue that that is Japan is that further down the street there is a Japanese styled gate. It is has large red doors but the signifier is the small roofing the gate has that looks clearly Japanese. Another clue would be the signs for the shops lining the street. All the signs are written in english but on the cigar shop sign it has a Japanese name printed on it. However, that name is written in roman characters. I get a sense of accommodation from this photo. The shops down main street are made to look appealing and accommodating to westerners.

Source

Assignment 3: Places

Above is an image of the Tokaido, a road running from Kyoto to Edo (important cities). In this image you really get a sense of vastness from the setting. Large trees and mountain tops in the background give the viewer a sense of vastness and gives them an idea of what the Tokaido weaves through. The image also gives viewers a different setting from the main cities. Beato shows the remote side of Japan by capturing an image of a remote village resting at one point on the Tokaido.

It is interesting with the placement of the people. I believe their positions in the photo were unplanned. I want to say that he captured this shot with out making contact with the villagers. The villagers not knowing whats going on stand and look in bewilderment. This photo depicts the remoteness that Japan can sometimes provide but it also shows the inactivity taking place on the Tokaido.

When it comes down to it, this photo is meant to be aesthetically pleasing. It is a beautiful scene of lush country side. This something a boy from south Georgia (me) can appreciate.

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/beato_places/fb1_essay02.html

Assignment 3: People

Above is a photo by Beato of a staged execution. I would think that images like these would be very popular among westerners for the "violence" taking place in the photo.Violence being something associated with uncivilized people as if violence is foreign to westerners at any point in history.

We have just recently started reading about gazes and I guess I will start there. Even though this is a staged execution the emotion expressed on the "executioner's" face seems to be very accurate to this point in time of a real execution. Its a very intense look barreling into the back of his victims neck (his target). Its a intra-diagetic gaze depicting a high level of seriousness. A calm before the storm. If this was a real execution, then the samurai's face would become very tense and strained as he proceeded to remove the prisoner's head in one quick precise and powerful swing.

While we are talking about gaze, how could the victims gaze be described as. I did not see a term in our readings for a gaze in which has been taken or obstructed.

When discussing the details of this photo is the rope tied around the prisoners neck which was used by the samurai to guide his victim to his final resting place. A leash really. Another detail would be the placement of his sword. Like his face I feel like this photo captured the moment right before the action is to be carried out. If this were a real execution his sword would be cocked back and swung forward soon after this photo was taken. The seriousness of this photo is reinforced in the essay when it is followed by images of REAL decapitated heads.

I have a question about the shape of the photo itself. I don't know much about photography so why is it that a lot of older pictures are oval shape. Is it a portrait style or something else?

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/beato_people/fb2_essay01.html

Undying Pride

This woodblock print reminds me of a lot of the Mongol Scrolls (both invasions taking place in Edo as well I think). This image of Samurai looking all "decked-out" preparing to defend their pure homeland from barbaric invaders. The way I described this print really describes the what the artist was trying to get across. The noble larger than life samurai preparing for war. The color usage really makes the print pretty exciting. It matches all the excitement happening within the print.

Another thing that is pretty cool about the print is how it makes both sides look pretty good. He makes the Samurai look very heroic and battle-worthy while the foreign invaders ships look massive and ominous. All of this I am sure was exaggerated to a certain degree. Not to mention this print was made several years after the event that took place within the print.

The creation of this print, I believe, was really to strike a Nationalist sense of pride into the Japan natives. An image of this would really (and probably was) appreciated during the second world war in which Japan would be pitted against the west yet again.