Esaki Reiji, Collage of Babies, 1893. Albumen photomontage, 27cm x 21cm
I walked into Larry’s office on Friday and I saw this huge, piercing red book on the history of Japanese photography. The images are beautiful and thoughtful in documenting people, places, and royalty. The two images above struck a chord with me because of their reference to the surrealist artworks of the 1920’s as well as photomontage. It’s interesting to think that that same aesthetic was around in late 19th century Japan. I don’t think the surrealist train of thought was around in Japan at that time, but I wonder what kind of influences Mr. Reiji had in creating this photomontage. All of the baby heads closely put together cause a dizzying spell over the viewer as the eye traces each little face. As I stare, I notice that some baby images are larger than others and as a result they stand out against the rest. Was this an aesthetic choice to control the “flow” of the image? And was there a reason behind making a collage of babies at all? Why infants? The color of albumen prints is a brownish, sepia tone that calls the idea of memory and past events. This tone adds a sense of nostalgia to the work. So that nostalgia along with the innocence of each infant’s expression creates a mood. The photographer must have felt confident enough to cut and manipulate photographs in general even though the process of making photos in that era was difficult to come by. I can only guess at the reasons but the image stands out along side the others in the book that represent 19th century Japanese photography.
very odd indeed.
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