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A CHEAP 3-D LITHOGRAPH WITH A STORY TO TELL -- ALBUMEN PHOTOS and a STEREOSCOPE in Old Japan
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Rob
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A COUNTRY GIRL OF OLD JAPAN -- The Smiling Tea Girl from Shizuoka who Conquered the World of Old 3-D
| A COUNTRY GIRL OF OLD JAPAN -- The Smiling Tea Girl from Shizuoka who Conquered the World of Old 3-D |
| Description: |
he simple image above was photographed on a hilly slope in Shizuoka Prefecture, and is usually called "The Tea Girl" by most dealers and collectors. It was taken by Julian Cochrane in 1904. It was given Keystone View Company negative # 14739. From the day her image arrived in Pennsylvania, she found herself included in more stereoview sets and world-tour 3-D image banks than any other Japan-related stereoview image in the history of Japanese photography.
This view was also one of the few in Keystone's line-up of over over 1,000,000 negatives to carry a sales pitch for stereoviews in general. For almost 20 years, the printed back included this comment:
“........This view is a good example of the superiority of the stereograph over the ordinary photograph. The way the girl stands out, so that we seem almost to look around her, would drive a painter to despair. The binocular camera with which this picture was taken seems almost to improve upon natural vision.........”
The above comment was dropped when all of the card backs were re-written by Burton Holmes' editors for the "Tour of the World" sets in the 1920's. Actually, you will find a total of four different printed backs made between the years 1904 and 54 -- each directed at a different level of viewer, from grade-school kids to adults.
In 2003, I saw an original print of this view up for bid on eBay, with the following description by a seller named Dorothy. It gave me a good laugh, and I saved it :
“........One of the absolute best portrait photographs I have seen yet! This Japanese peasant girl is absolutely charming. She will captivate you with that wide-brimmed hat, that playful stance, and the wonderful beaming smile. Exquisite detail, from the handmade wicker basket on her back to the white tabi on her feet. In the distance, bountiful rice fields and green hills testify to the richness of life on the island. Wonderful view.....I completely recommend it. I don't want to give it up, it's so darling. My [scan] just does not capture the dazzling charm of this little girl's smile like the actual item does. I really love this view. I think you get the point. I just love this view. Did I mention this was a really stellar view? ….....”
LOL ! What a description THAT was ! Keystone probably never had such a glowing review of one of its images. Too bad photographer Cochrane was not around to read it. As Dorothy mentions in her gushing comments, we are treated to the added bonus of something rarely found in Meiji Era photographs of women—a natural smiling face.
Due to its prolific inclusion in so many sets (sets that are now being broken up and scattered to the wind)), as well as being a popular view sold separately, Cochrane’s photograph of the “Tea Girl” remains the most common real-photo stereoview of Old Japan found in todays world of photo shows, flea markets, and of course....eBay. But every one is an original, old, real-photo silver print -- well worth picking up if you have the chance. Not only is it record-breaking and historic, it is great 3-D.
[NOTE: I actually wrote the above description of this view back in 2005 for an INDEX OF JAPAN-RELATED STEREOVIEW PHOTOGRAPHERS AND PUBLISHERS, 1859-1912. My Index was later published in an abridged version of over 350 key entries in Terry Bennett's OLD JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHS - COLLECTORS' DATA GUIDE (Quaritch. London, 2006). The book and its complete contents are described here : www.old-japan.co.uk/book_ojp.html
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ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER : Julian Cochrane originally came to cover the Russo-Japan War for the KEYSTONE VIEW COMPANY of Meadville, Pennsylvania, but he ended up getting stuck in Tokyo for several months while waiting for official permission to go to the front in China.
Cochrane took advantage of the delay by photographing Japan as he saw it. He increased Keystone's unbelievably scant collection of only 23 old negatives of Japan, to a bountiful new image stock of several hundred fine views. Most all of them were deep, impressive 3-D that captured all aspects of Japan -- from War and Peace, City and Country, Children and the Aged, Business and the Arts, as well as the requisite Geisha and Maiko views that Westerners demanded. Among visiting foreigners, Cochrane's view count was exceeded only by British photographer Herbert Ponting, who had the advantage of many more years in Japan. Fortunately, there is very little overlap in both the content and style of these two 3-D photographer. Rather, they complement each other well, and their combined body of work paints a beautiful portrait of Meiji-era Japan. |
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| Date: |
09.11.2008 01:14 |
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Rob |
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