Albumin print, Japan, hand-colored, Torii, Suwa Shrine, Nagasaki 219, circa 1880

This historical photograph shows a culturally historically highly fascinating temple scene 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 documents the imposing Torii entrance to the history-rich Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki, which in Western travel albums of that era was often recorded under the name Oswa Temple. In the center of the composition, serving as a visual eye-catcher, stands a traditionally dressed Japanese woman holding a striking, red Japanese paper umbrella called a wagasa to convey the classic, exotic image of the Far East to Western tourists, while on the right side, several visitors can be seen on the grounds who appear blurred due to the long exposure time of the cameras back then. Since the exact authorship is officially considered unknown due to the lack of an artist's signature, the piece is attributed to the large commercial studios of the Yokohama school. 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 1880s. The antique rarity features the photograph dimensions of 25,7 x 19,7 cm mounted on a 27,3 x 21,4 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 left margin: "219 OSWA TEMPLE."