T-Enami.org 

   IMAGES OF LOTUS LAND: THE LIFE                 and CAMERA WORK OF

*  T. ENAMI  *

 JAPAN'S ENIGMATIC PHOTOGRAPHER

      Of the MEIJI and TAISHO ERAS

                       King of the Stereoview, Master of the Lantern-Slide                                                            And Prolific, Anonymous Contributor                                                                    To the World of Yokohama Album Views

                

                      Ca 1908-12 Formal portrait of Japanese Photographer                                             T. Enami (1859-1929).  Chinese characters read from                                               right to left : Enami Nobukuni.  So, why not N. Enami?                                              Read the story for the answer to this and more.

In her Introduction to THE HISTORY OF JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHY (Yale University Press, 2003), Anne Tucker begins with the words "What we know about the history of photography is less than what remains to be discovered...", and ends her many pages of valuable comments with, "...The questions yet to be answered are endless". Those two observations are very true, and offer an acceptable explanation of why Enami's name (along with many other early Japanese photographers) appear nowhere between the covers of her excellent book.

During the few short years since the above reference was published, Enami has become one of those whose mysterious name has been cleared of the fog that once surrounded him, and his place now well-defined in the mainstream of early Japanese photographic history.

In the past, he was simply one of well over a thousand studio and photographer imprints from the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras for whom there was little or no known history.

 After WW2, Japanese photo researchers published a short, four-line mention of him without any biographical data. This was followed in 1991 by a short "Yokohama Photographers" appendix in another Japanese book, where photo historian Takio Saito listed several old business directories wherein Enami's name and studio address were found.

However, there was still no biographical data, and in both of the above books, no examples of his work were shown. An investigation revealed that -- even as late as 2006 -- the Yokohama Archives of History that published the data was not familiar with his work, and their vast collection of photographs had no identified Enami images.

In the West, small nuggets of information were occasionally found for him. He was first mentioned by photo-historian Clark Worswick in 1979, and in 1988, Frances Fralin of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC made an honorable attempt at a one paragraph biography to accompany certain of his images found in the archives of the National Geographic Society.

Beyond that, certain confusing aspects of Enami's name, and a dearth of critical data became a wall preventing further investigation. Strangely, a great divide existed between those who held collections of his imprinted images, and those who held only documents and dates. Unfortunately, these two sides never seemed to meet. 

In both East and West, Enami remained an Enigma. 

However, in 2006, thanks to Enami's own descendants, several breakthroughs occurred. Revelations supplied by his kin acted as a catalyst that almost immediately allowed the scattered data and images to coalesce into a meaningful whole. Individual efforts by collectors and historians were suddenly harmonized, while old "sticky questions" were provided with answers.

Since his emergence from the general fog that once obscured him, Enami has shown himself to be full of surprises. Along with the "sudden" identification of a large body of his images, we are finally allowed to see him and his work in the context of his more famous contemporaries -- many turning out to be his friends, with whom he shared his labors. In effect, this recent establishment of Enami as a major player in the world of early Japanese photography is part of the ongoing "discovery" that Anne Tucker alluded to.

This website is intended as a friendly tribute to Enami; giving an informal, yet information-filled look at his life and images. It also adds illustrated balance and further data to the Enami essay and biography found in Terry Bennett's info-packed OLD JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHS: COLLECTORS'DATA GUIDE (London. Quaritch, 2006), and finally clears the air of the interesting speculations mused upon in Bennett's even more colorful sister publication, PHOTOGRAPHY IN JAPAN: 1853-1912 (Tuttle, 2006).

The Webmaster highly recommends all of the above books for a wealth of amazing, illustrated stories from the world of early Japanese photography.

LATE NEWS : We report with sadness the death of T. Enami's Grandson, KEISUKE, who passed away at age 75 on October 25th, 2008.

It was only a little over two years ago that Keisuke provided the key biographical details about his grandfather, clearing up some of the main mysteries surrounding the ENAMI name, and what actually happened to the Yokohama studio on Benten Street.

Keisuke's contributions appear in Bennett's important DATA GUIDE mentioned in the above introduction, as well as scattered throughout this site.

Keisuke is survived by his wife Ryoko (a talented calligrapher), and two sons. His daughter-in-law, Chiemi, is a musician and teacher in Yokohama.

Here is a 2006 image of Keisuke and his Wife posted on Flickr

  Two Boys Plowing a Field on the Plains of Mt. Fuji.  By T. Enami, ca.1910-20.  From a Lantern slide.

NOTE !  Those interested in the details of Enami's life, background, acquaintances, accomplishments, and examples of his photography may go right to the heavily-illustrated MAIN STORY HERE. 

Those wanting just a quick, one-page, no-frills account of T. ENAMI can go directly to Philbert Ono's PHOTOGUIDE JAPAN  entry HERE,

.....or the WIKIPEDIA entry HERE. 

On the other hand, if you are not up for a lot of reading, and only want to look at a bunch of Enami's photos, just scroll down this page and looky-loo as you go. When you get to the bottom, you can come back up here and hit the main story button above for even MORE pictures on the second page! Of course, if you feel like reading something along the way, dig in where you want to.

However, the mother lode of Enami images posted on the Web are now found HERE. 

         
         ABOVE:  Ca.1895-98. Shell Pickers on Honmoku Flats, two miles south of Yokohama.

         BELOW: Variant of above Enami image published ca.1904-05 by George Rose of Australia

Feb 1, 2009

Dear Visitor,

         On this page and the MAIN STORY page, you will find about 100 random images from T. Enami's portfolio -- roughly what you would get in a couple of nice Souvenir Photo Albums from the late Meiji era. 

    As already mentioned, over 300 images have been posted on the flickr.com site HERE.  Anybody can visit and see these photos. HOWEVER, If you are a registered member of flicker, you can see HIGHER RESOLUTION enlargements of all of the posted Enami images, including many not seen here.

Permission granted to download any flickr.com Enami images you'd like to use for non-commercial use. Flickr also asks that you provide a link back to flickr if used on another website. Thanks in advance for proper credit.

      Also, with some over-lap, over 30 more Enami images may be seen at :

(1) the T. Enami "Light Box" section of Alan Griffiths Luminous-Lint website HERE (click on photo to read expanded captions). 

(2) Robert Cornely's beautiful display of 36 images lantern-slide images HERE,

and

(3) The Presbyterian Archives of New Zealand display of 14 images [culled from over 80 in their collection] seen HERE. All told, that's well over 300 verified T. Enami views (and a few studio imprints) to keep things covered while the site change is made.

       Other collections are listed at the Flickr link given above, including links to see see the 50-view lantern-slide collection at Nagasaki University.

       I had originally intended to re-work this site, and put it up on another server. However, lack of time prevents this for now, and so, for a while, you are stuck with things as you see them. When things settle down, and I get some expert help in these matters, all things ENAMI will look (and Link) a lot better !

       YOU CAN NOW...

 Go to the MAIN STORY HERE , or continue with more background  below.
 

                      Ca.1904. Japanes Naval Ship in Yokohama Harbor waiting for the                                  Emeror Meiji to come aboard. A scene during the Russo-Japan War.

                            
 Ca.1898. Beach Boys. Catching the Spray from Breaking Surf.      Vignette from a half-stereoview

        
                                        Ca.1898.  Five Geisha and a Cat.

     
    Ca. 1892-95.  Scenic Study in Rural Japan.                               Hand-tinted Lantern-Slide

                                ABOUT THIS SITE

          For those already familiar with the work of early Japanese Photographers such as Kimbei, K. Ogawa, Tamamura (and others covered by the many Japanese Photo-Histories published in the West), the material presented on this site should prove a bit refreshing, and sometimes surprising. It is a small tribute to one whose activities and portfolio occasionally transcended the work of his more famous contemporaries, leaving collectors and connoisseurs of the Japanese image with a wide range of new material to discover and enjoy. 

          The images and text are meant to provide a basic, yet sufficient introduction to this often "anonymous" Meiji-era Japanese photographer. The websites name is taken from his "trade name", or as he himself would probably have termed it in Japanese, his "Artist Name"—T. Enami. 

          On the MAIN STORY page HERE, you will be served up two things: 

(1) The story of Japan's most wide-ranging old-time photographer of the Meiji era,

and

(2) a no-entrance-fee gallery of original images photographed by Enami over a period of more than thirty-five years. All images are of decent, viewable size, with permission granted to copy a few for your own use. 

          
                              Ca.1898. Kids in the Park under Cherry Blossoms.      

        

                       Ca1898. The Rice Pounder.           Vignette from a half-Stereoview.

       
                            Ca.1895-98  Japanese Ladies out for a Jinrikisha Ride

            Ca.1898.  Kendo Kids.                                     Vignette from a half-stereoview.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS.  With the exception of the the formal portrait of Enami at the top of this page (attributed by the webmaster to an unknown photographer's assistant at K. Ogawa's studio, or perhaps photographed by K. Ogawa himself), all of the photos on this site are scanned from the original silver prints or lantern-slides.

The "original" image used for Enami's portrait at the top of this page was actually a Xerox copy of a halftone illustration published in K. Ogawa's 1913 book Sogyo Kinen Sanju Nenshi [A Celebration of Thirty Years in the Photography Business]. This book, containing many other one-of-a-kind images from K. Ogawa's life and times was re-discovered by professional photographer and photo-historian Torin Boyd back in 1994. He was kind enough to send me a copy of this T. Enami portrait (one of only three close images showing Enami that I am aware of) as well as an image showing Enami seated with many other photographers in an outdoor group portrait of the Ogawa Alumni Association. It came out just fine considering it's a SCAN of a XEROX of a HALFTONE made from a long lost PHOTOGRAPH !

The same portrait originating from Boyd's personal copy of the "K. Ogawa Bible" (as he calls it) was first reprinted [republished] by Terry Bennett in both volumes of his 2006 set of Japanese Photo Histories described further below. 

The rest of the vintage photos appearing on this site are all hand-finished, original works belonging to the Webmaster. 

I am under no illusion about the potential sacrifice of such images on the sacred altar of Yahoo and Google's IMAGE search engines. The use of these photos by "image pirates" --- who feel that all out-of-copyright photographs that have been collected, restored, described and posted by others, are somehow provided for their commercial benefit with no need to thank or credit the conservator, curator, and holder of said images --- is already happening even as you read this. Fortunately, such distasteful occurrences --- regardless of their highly questionable and debated "legality" --- are relatively few, and most folks who use the images from this site and flickr are of the civilized and courteous type.

                    SIZE MATTERS, and Etc... 

Please look at the stereoview illustration of the Ladies out for a Jinrikisha Ride just above. Although it can be free-viewed, and the stereo-depth is natural, the resolution of the average computer screen is less-than-kind to the fine detail and careful coloring done by Enami's studio. Seeing this, I decided to render most of the stereoviews as enlarged HALF stereoviews in order give preference to content details. However, over 30 stereoviews remain in full, as such was Enami's intent when he tripped the shutter. 

For hi-rez fanatics who are members of the flickr.com site HERE, over 300 T. Enami images from the t-enami.org files have been posted with an "ALL SIZES" button above the pictures you select that will give you detailed enlargments. Just search "T. Enami", and enjoy ! If you are not a member, you can still see all of the pics, just not in hi-rez.

Scans from glass lantern-slides, with a few instructive exceptions, do not show the binding tape or labels (however, where masked borders are shown, they are the original shapes). All "color photographs" are actually black-and-white images that were hand tinted in Enami's studio. Each image was laboriously worked on for many hours (some say one to three images a day) while being looked at through a magnifying glass, and the tints applied by fine brushes, some as thin as a single hair.

Several scanners in different countries were used, as well as a digital camera used for slide copying against different light boxes. Therefore, all color and tone rendition both on THIS WEB SITE and on FLICKr should be considered approximate.

Regardless of how some images take to being pixilated on your screen, the originals are all pin sharp. Except for some uniform matting of stereoview mounts, and occasional straight and vignette cropping to produce half-stereoviews for enlargement, the image content itself is posted "as is".

                 Ca.1898.  On the Road to Nikko.            Vignette from a half-stereoview.

        
 ABOVE:  Ca.1898. Japanese Sleeping Style. During the 1880s and 90s, Japanese photographers offered many versions of these generic "Sleeping Geisha" images for their title lists. To Westerners, the title implies that the day is done, dinner is over, the sun long set, and all visitors have gone home.

Yet, as seen BELOW, most of them, including Enami (during his early days) photographed such subjects utilizing a full skylight illumination from top to bottom. What gives? Well, there are two ways to look at it... First, the earlier ca.1892-95 album view seen below (also used in the 1897 Brinkley JAPAN set as a tipped-in cabinet view), shows Enami's initial tendency to follow the "daytime" lighting styles already established by his famous teacher K. Ogawa and contemporaries. 

In real life, more than a few Geisha wound up "sleeping in 'till noon" (so to speak) after all-night dinner parties with half-drunk patrons. On the other hand, the Geisha had to act as photographer's models to portray scenes in the life of "normal" Japanese women. After about 1895, Enami began to depart from the common and consistent use of "daytime" to depict his studio titles.

The stereoview above shows his effort to bring on the "darkness of night", in line with what most purchasers of his views would consider the proper time to "hit the sack".

                                         Ca.1898. Two Geisha on Veranda.

           
 Ca.1915   Mount Fuji through Pines.                                                 Hand-tinted lantern-slide.

                             Ca.1895-98 Kinkaku-Ji [The Golden Temple], Kyoto.

            Ca.1898.  The Sumo Match.                             Vignette from a half-stereoview.

            Notice the ladders for access to the balcony bleachers in this rural outdoor venue.

          Long an enigmatic figure, and difficult to pin down, T. Enami has, for the better part of a century, inadvertently (and understandably) been omitted from almost all modern Photo-histories of Japan. However, as the picture of who he was and what he accomplished became clear, it also became apparent that his continued exclusion from modern accounts of Japan's photographic past could no longer be justified. In 2006, the first major discussion of Enami and his work finally appeared in two related scholarly photo-history books about Japan (listed further below).

          We now know that his artistic and documentary record was seen by millions during the Meiji and Taisho eras. It has also come to light (more than once) that in some ways his varied activities surpassed the contributions made by many of his well-known contemporaries. 

          As you read the story, at some point you may think, How did we miss this guy?  On the other hand, after having the images of Beato, Stillfried, Kimbei, Ogawa, Farsari, and Tamamura rehashed to the bone in numerous scholarly works, it's nice to have someone "new" come along with a portfolio that has barely been tapped , and cleared of the fog that has generally obscured him.  

                          Ca.1898. Group of Sumo Wrestlers with Ceremonial Garb.

                 Ca.1898. Getting into the Act.               Vignette from a half-stereoview.

     Ca.1898 "Drying Tea Leaves".                                  Lantern-slide from a half-stereoview.

        The abridged and certified  MAIN STORY of T. Enami found HERE is for all those dealers, collectors, and photo-history buffs interested in Japanese "things photographic". Aspiring curators and editors who will eventually (and inevitably) produce other comprehensive photo-histories (or gallery arrays) of early Japanese images, will find among Enami's wide-ranging portfolio any number of possibilities for expanding your story line and visual presentation.

          The term "certified" as used above means the author worked from.....

          (1) primary sources and documents in Japan; (2) Western books and documents with his accredited images; (3) interviews with living descendants who accessed legal records for the sake of this story, and provided personal anecdote from memory; and (4) direct observation of a large amount identified T. Enami images, including both commercial images and private studio portraits.

           As this is not a formal, scholarly presentation of the information (this site is intentionally lacking footnotes and a bibliography) I will reserve the inclusion of the most of the above sources and catalog listings for a future hard-copy presentation of the material.  However, some references will be found imbedded in the text.

           
               Ca.1908-15.Praying Priest between Pillar and Post.            From a Lantern-slide.

      Ca.1892-95. The Old Junk.                                    Lantern-slide from an Albumen Print.

             Ca.1898. Ready for Rain or Snow.                    Vignette from a half-stereoview.

          Adding to the known image bank was an important discovery by fellow National Stereoscopic Association members of annotated proof-sheets from Enami's original Meiji-era studio that had been safely stored outside of Japan prior to the great earthquake of 1923.  Some of these are shown throughout the site in their original untransposed state, or as black and white half-stereoview crops.

          While having made visual inspection of nearly 2,000 small-format Enami related images, I could only do the same for about 200 of his larger albumen prints. Making up for this relative dearth of classic album views available for study on my side of the fence, British photo historian Terry Bennett independently spent many years in England and France viewing private collections of Enami material. His efforts resulted in a huge list of Enami's album-view numbers and titles. This listing appear in his Data Guide, and continues to grow. Although sometimes attributed to others (and used by some of his contemporaries) the image directly below is one of these early Enami album views.

       
       Ca. 1892-94  Nagoya Castle. Large albumen print. One of Enami's first images, it is often found attributed to others, and appears with many different numbers stripped into the negative.

Ca.1898. The Daibutsu at Kamakura.  Rather than focus on the statue by taking a more common "head on" shot, Enami climbed back into the gardens on the side, making the Great Buddha a supporting actor to the depth and composition of the scene. Herbert Ponting, who would later photograph this site for many American stereoview publishers, followed the same indirect style of approach to the statue, possibly being inspired by Enami's own images to do so.

In the old days, it was fairly easy to climb up on the statue to have your picture taken in any ridiculous pose you desired. Those days are (unfortunately) long gone.  However, anyone may still go inside this hollow, hulking hunk of bronze, and, after your eyes get used to the relative darkness, see the graffiti of the ages written by both Japanese and foreign visitors on the metallic walls of the inner belly. .

         

          Ca.1905-15. Into the Mist. Lone Pilgrim on a Mountain Trail.    Lantern-slide. The above is one of two known images taken along the same trail. The other may be seen HERE on flickr.

           Some of the material appearing on this Site was complied during the years 2004-2006, and served as a basis for the T. Enami essay and broader 3-D Index appearing in Terry Bennett's Old Japanese Photographs: Collectors' Data Guide (London: Quaritch, 2006). Also in that book will be found Bennett's own valuable listing of 100s of numbers and titles for known Enami album views—a number that continues to grow.

             Bennett's larger work, Photography in Japan 1853-1912 (North Clarendon: Tuttle, 2006) also contains a nicely illustrated chapter on T. Enami, the first of its kind in any Japanese photo-history. This book is not only beautiful to look at, but a fascinating and detailed tour of early Japanese photography in general. While T. Enami is incorrectly called Enami Tamotsu in the Chapter headings and text, this understandable error—common among all pre-2007 resources where Enami is mentioned—was quickly corrected in Bennett's own Data Guide after Enami’s grandson finally cleared up the confusion. Both books are recommended for those wishing more detail, and more extensive bibliographic references than are found embedded in the story presented here.

          All Bennett publications may be viewed (and ordered) HERE

 Ca. 1892-95 The above lantern-slide images represent some of Enami's earliest studies including people. The black mask shapes are originals by Enami. The image of the priests with their "umbrella man" is one of over twenty T. Enami images used by Burton Holmes to illustrate the Japan portion of his best-selling, multi-volume Travelogue series. The early book sets, first published in 1901, were careful to credit all photographers whose images filled the pages; however, this one slipped by without credit. For Holmes' book, the plate-makers removed all background material in the image, leaving only the four figures with their umbrella. Such image manipulation was common in a era where the old artists and engravers were being called on to prepare half-tone plates from photographs. (Such an image appearing a "wood engraving" would also most likely have the background highly simplified, or removed entirely). After many years, the Travelogue publisher erased all photographer credit lines from beneath the images. This eventually led some later publications that used the Burton Holmes Collection to erroneously attribute to Holmes the work of many Japanese (and some American) photographers. Holmes biographer, Genoa Caldwell, has done much to correct these errors of attribution.

              Ca.1898. A Geisha Amongst Lilies.            Lantern-slide from a half-stereoview.

              Ca.1898. On the Crater's Lip. Mt. Asama.                Hand-tinted lantern-Slide.

      
            Ca.1898.  No Time for Play.                              Vignette from a half-stereoview.

         At several places througout this Site, some seemingly extravagant or inflated claims will be made for Enami, yet all such boasting on his behalf is squarely backed up by the data. 

          As mentioned, the original T. Enami photographs inserted throughout this site were collected from sources in several countries. Enami's view-list was so great that most any collection of his material will be unique. The particular images used here, while sometimes illustrating the text at hand, are, for the most part, randomly inserted for decorative "gallery" purposes to show Enami's particular styles. If you have the ability to "free view" (and in spite of the poor resolution of the screen), the quality and depth of Enami's stereoview compositions will speak for themselves.

       Ca.1898. Wayside Rest on the Rustic Road to Fuji. A classic composition in detailed depth.

        For what it's worth, you might be interested to know that—with the exception of seven Japanese documents such as phone books and business directories that simply record his name and address in Japanese, and one 1952 listing of Japanese photographers that devotes only four lines to him—the information provided here in English (as well as in Bennett's books published in 2006) is currently far more than what is available to the Japanese in their own language --- even in 2009, the 150th anniversary of both Enami's birthday and the opening of Yokohama Port to the world.

       At least one  Japanese photo-historian there is considering a possible Exhibition that will bring Enami some of the deserved attention he has been missing in his own land for so many years.

            Click HERE for the illustrated MAIN STORY of T. Enami.

                                                                                  
Ca.1892-95 Sanmaibashi. Lantern-slide. Compare tones and tint with albumen print version below. 

          Ca.1905-15. The Great Torii at Miyajima.                 Vignette from a lantern-slide.

             Ca.1898. Porcelain Crafters.                            Vignette from a half-stereoview.

                   Ca. 1910-15   Young Girl with Fisherman.                           Hand-tinted lantern-slide. 

What We Do

WHAT WE DON'T DO

With apologies, this not a commercial enterprise selling T. Enami coffee mugs, T-shirts, or mouse pads!