Albumin print, Japan, hand-colored, Kegon Falls, waterfall Nikko, circa 1890

This historical photograph shows a monumental and immensely powerful landscape view from Japan from the Meiji period, taken as an original albumin print mounted on cardboard. The albumin process used was the dominant photochemical technique of that era, in which egg white was used to bind the light-sensitive silver salts to the paper.

The motif in portrait format documents the famous Kegon Falls in Nikko, which are considered one of the 3 highest and most imposing waterfalls in Japan and originate from nearby Lake Chuzenji. The photograph captures the massive volumes of water plunging deep into the forested gorge and becomes a true work of art through the coloring of the surrounding rocks and trees. Since the exact authorship is officially considered unknown due to the lack of a signature, the piece is attributed to the leading commercial photo studios of the Yokohama school, which captured these natural wonders for the Western market. The absolute highlight of this artwork, composed in landscape format, is the elaborate hand-coloring. Japan was the absolute world leader in this precise hand-coloring technique, used to create the impression of a lifelike color photograph.

This spectacular document originated in the period around 1880 to 1895. The antique rarity features the photograph dimensions of 26,5 x 20,5 cm mounted on a 27,9 x 21,8 cm original cardboard backing and is in good age-appropriate condition with an even, slight toning. It shows a waviness of the cardboard due to storage, partially somewhat yellowed cardboard margins, a slightly faded image surface, as well as the original white caption within the photo negative at the bottom margin: "751 KEGON Nikkō."