Twee gezichten op een tuin in Bancho in Tokyo, Japan before 1893

Kazumasa Ogawa made these two photographic views of a garden in Bancho, Tokyo, presumably sometime around the turn of the 20th century. In his practice, Ogawa blended technical expertise with an appreciation for traditional Japanese aesthetics. The photographs are albumen prints, a process involving coating paper with egg white to create a glossy surface on which to fix the image. This was state-of-the-art at the time. The albumen print, with its distinctive clarity and tonal range, gives the images a crisp, almost ethereal quality, perfectly suited to capturing the serene beauty of the Japanese garden. We should also consider the social context: photography was still a relatively new medium, and its adoption by artists like Ogawa helped to bridge the gap between traditional art forms and modern technology. His work demonstrates how new technologies, when skillfully applied, could serve to preserve and promote cultural heritage. It also reflects Japan's increasing engagement with the wider world at this time.