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.

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. 

Or...you can start below with some background information about this site, and a preliminary look at 40 images randomly selected from his Meiji-era portfolio.   

Those only looking for a only 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. 

         
         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

Oct 1, 2008

Dear Visitor,

         On this page and the MAIN STORY page, you will fined about 80 random images from T. Enami's portfolio. There were more, but the extra images crashed and burned. We are sorting this out, and eventually everything (and more!) will be republished on another host server. In the meantime, Besides the many nice images you will find right here, I have also posted

     MORE  CLASSIC  ENAMI  IMAGES

   on FLICKr and ELSEWHERE

          Almost 200 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 HIGH RESOLUTION enlargements of all of the posted Enami images, including many not seen here (and several belonging to others!). Just Search "T. Enami", and many pages of views will appear.

Permission granted to download or copy any 5 of these hi-rez versions from flickr.com for non-commercial use. Flickr also asks that you provide a link back to flickr. If you want to use more than 5 for non-commercial use elsewhere, that's probably NO PROBLEM, but please contact me so I what's going on, and can clear your use of the images. Images pulled from this site please credit as PHOTO BY T. ENAMI / ROB OECHSLE COLLECTION. That's it. Thanks.

      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 250 verified T. Enami views (and a few studio imprints) to keep things covered while the site change is made.

       This site will eventually be re-worked, but keep in mind that it might take a while (The Webmaster has another life, and a real business to attend to!). To those who kept telling me, "You should buy a Mac", you were right.

       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) a link-filled story about Japan's most wide-ranging old-time photographer, 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 only two exceptions, all of the old illustrations are from direct scans of original photographs (both paper and glass) by T. Enami. The two exceptions are (1) 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. The "original" used here is actually 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 that I am aware of) as well as an image showing Enami seated with many others in an outdoor group portrait of the Ogawa Alumni Association. 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 other exception is (2) Enami's black and white photographs of Mount Fuji appearing in K. Ogawa's 1912 Fuji San which were scanned from the halftone illustrations in that book. 

The rest of the vintage photos appearing on this site are all hand-finished, original works, under copyright of the present owner (who is under no illusion about his sacrifice of such copyright on the sacred altar of Yahoo and Google's IMAGE search engines, with the happy effect that many more may be introduced to the subject matter).

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 180 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, and all color and tone rendition 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 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 attempt to control lighting in a more skillful way 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 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 (see 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 many facets and connections 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.

           
               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 less than 100 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. 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.

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. 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.

           Final integration of data and images from all sources resulted in a 150-page, 300-illustration T. Enami monograph complied in 2006 by Okinawa-based photographer Rob Oechsle. Over 100 of those photographs illustrate this site. The lengthy Enami monograph was part of an even lengthier 700-entry Index of Japanese Stereoview Photographers and Publishers complied by Oechsle from 2004-06. This material also 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 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.

          While touching on the important highlights of his career, links in the body of the text [most in the POSTSCRIPT and COLLECTIONS following the story] will lead to other Enami-related sites on the web. At several points in the text, 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 over one-hundred 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 inspite 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 is currently far more than what is available to the Japanese in their own language.  However, the 150th anniversary of both Enami's birthday and the opening of Yokohama is now on the horizon. 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 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 lanten-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!