Kelly M McCormick | University of British Columbia (original) (raw)

Papers by Kelly M McCormick

Research paper thumbnail of Tokiwa Toyoko, the nude shooting session, and the gendered optics of Japanese postwar photography

Japan Forum

For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in w... more For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in which naked female models were photographed by groups of primarily male photographers in public parks, beaches, and studios) offered a particularly popular way to engage in photography in Japan. Photographer Tokiwa Toyoko was one of the many women entering male dominated workplaces in this period and through her portrayal of the male participants at the nude shooting session she critiqued assumptions that women were more suited to being in front of, rather than behind, the lens of the camera. The following article pursues a detailed analysis of mass media depictions of the so-called ‘birth of the female photographer in postwar Japan’ and intervenes in debates surrounding nude shooting sessions to provide a new interpretation of Tokiwa’s photographs of women who labored with their bodies. In so doing, it calls into question the foundational discourses of Japanese postwar photographic realism and reveals a new perspective on the gendered dynamics therein.

Research paper thumbnail of Inventing a Photographic Past for Japan From A Century of Japanese Photo 1968 to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photo

History of Photogaphy, 2023

In 1968 two generations of Japanese photographers came together to research and curate the most c... more In 1968 two generations of Japanese photographers came together to research and curate the most comprehensive exhibition of the history of Japanese photography to date. Examining five hundred thousand photographs from public and private collections across the archipelago, they ultimately presented 1,640 images in a widely attended Tokyo exhibition. Moving beyond photographic nationalism, A Century of Japanese Photography was one of the only instances of public critique of the role of photographers who collaborated with the Japanese state during the Fifteen Year War (1931–45) and the exhibition’s popularity launched the movement to build the largest photography museum in Japan. Through analysis of the exhibition and establishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, I illuminate how the process of writing the first major history of Japanese photography and building an institution to house its archive was a practice informed by the changing meanings of the role of photographers and museums within Japanese society.

Research paper thumbnail of A Century of Japanese Photography Historical Reckoning and the Birth of a New Movement · SFMOMA

SF MoMA Digital Publications, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Why was Japanese WWII propaganda on display outside the Met The Washington Post

Washington Post, 2021

Why careful consideration of the historical context of the production of photographs is crucial t... more Why careful consideration of the historical context of the production of photographs is crucial to how we present and interpret them today.

Research paper thumbnail of Tokiwa Toyoko, the nude shooting session, and the gendered optics of Japanese postwar photography

Japan Forum, 2022

For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in w... more For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in which naked female models were photographed by groups of primarily male photographers in public parks, beaches, and studios) offered a particularly popular way to engage in photography in Japan. Photographer Tokiwa Toyoko was one of the many women entering male dominated workplaces in this period and through her portrayal of the male participants at the nude shooting session she critiqued assumptions that women were more suited to being in front of, rather than behind, the lens of the camera. The following article pursues a detailed analysis of mass media depictions of the so-called ‘birth of the female photographer in postwar Japan’ and intervenes in debates surrounding nude shooting sessions to provide a new interpretation of Tokiwa’s photographs of women who labored with their bodies. In so doing, it calls into question the foundational discourses of Japanese postwar photographic realism and reveals a new perspective on the gendered dynamics therein.

Research paper thumbnail of Ogawa Kazumasa and the Halftone Photograph: Japanese War Albums at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Upon Ogawa Kazumasa’s (1860-1929) return from the United States in 1885, where he studied the lat... more Upon Ogawa Kazumasa’s (1860-1929) return from the United States in 1885, where he studied the latest techniques in photomechanical reproduction, he changed the way that photographs were consumed in Japan. Whether it was to use photographic technology to construct a fine arts heritage for Japan in relationship to the United States and Europe, or to utilize the halftone process to reproduce photographs in newspapers for the first time, Ogawa became the champion for using photographs to consume and transmit information about the world. In this article, I combine the scholarly perspectives of the history of technology, publishing, and art to consider the ways in which Ogawa’s many photographic activities in combination create a picture of contemporary attitudes toward the manifold possibilities of photography as an imaging technique at the turn of the twentieth century. Through a focus on the role he played in making it possible to cheaply mass reproduce photographs through the halftone process, I argue for Ogawa’s historical significance to our understanding of the many functions that photographs played in the press and the historical development of their increasing value as eyewitness documents during times of war. Focusing on photographs in wartime albums such as the A Photographic Album of the Japan-China War [Nisshin Sensō-zu日清 戰爭 寫眞圖] (1894-1894) I address the historical perspectives on the role that photographs played in communicating information across space and time and the business of war photography.

Permalink: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7977573.0007.201 [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7977573.0007.201] [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/]

Drafts by Kelly M McCormick

Research paper thumbnail of “Camera Women: A History of Modern Japan by Women Photographers,” Centre de Recherches sur le Japon, Paris, October 11, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Tokiwa Toyoko, the nude shooting session, and the gendered optics of Japanese postwar photography

Japan Forum

For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in w... more For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in which naked female models were photographed by groups of primarily male photographers in public parks, beaches, and studios) offered a particularly popular way to engage in photography in Japan. Photographer Tokiwa Toyoko was one of the many women entering male dominated workplaces in this period and through her portrayal of the male participants at the nude shooting session she critiqued assumptions that women were more suited to being in front of, rather than behind, the lens of the camera. The following article pursues a detailed analysis of mass media depictions of the so-called ‘birth of the female photographer in postwar Japan’ and intervenes in debates surrounding nude shooting sessions to provide a new interpretation of Tokiwa’s photographs of women who labored with their bodies. In so doing, it calls into question the foundational discourses of Japanese postwar photographic realism and reveals a new perspective on the gendered dynamics therein.

Research paper thumbnail of Inventing a Photographic Past for Japan From A Century of Japanese Photo 1968 to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photo

History of Photogaphy, 2023

In 1968 two generations of Japanese photographers came together to research and curate the most c... more In 1968 two generations of Japanese photographers came together to research and curate the most comprehensive exhibition of the history of Japanese photography to date. Examining five hundred thousand photographs from public and private collections across the archipelago, they ultimately presented 1,640 images in a widely attended Tokyo exhibition. Moving beyond photographic nationalism, A Century of Japanese Photography was one of the only instances of public critique of the role of photographers who collaborated with the Japanese state during the Fifteen Year War (1931–45) and the exhibition’s popularity launched the movement to build the largest photography museum in Japan. Through analysis of the exhibition and establishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, I illuminate how the process of writing the first major history of Japanese photography and building an institution to house its archive was a practice informed by the changing meanings of the role of photographers and museums within Japanese society.

Research paper thumbnail of A Century of Japanese Photography Historical Reckoning and the Birth of a New Movement · SFMOMA

SF MoMA Digital Publications, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Why was Japanese WWII propaganda on display outside the Met The Washington Post

Washington Post, 2021

Why careful consideration of the historical context of the production of photographs is crucial t... more Why careful consideration of the historical context of the production of photographs is crucial to how we present and interpret them today.

Research paper thumbnail of Tokiwa Toyoko, the nude shooting session, and the gendered optics of Japanese postwar photography

Japan Forum, 2022

For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in w... more For the first decade after the end of World War Two, nūdo satsueikai (nude shooting sessions in which naked female models were photographed by groups of primarily male photographers in public parks, beaches, and studios) offered a particularly popular way to engage in photography in Japan. Photographer Tokiwa Toyoko was one of the many women entering male dominated workplaces in this period and through her portrayal of the male participants at the nude shooting session she critiqued assumptions that women were more suited to being in front of, rather than behind, the lens of the camera. The following article pursues a detailed analysis of mass media depictions of the so-called ‘birth of the female photographer in postwar Japan’ and intervenes in debates surrounding nude shooting sessions to provide a new interpretation of Tokiwa’s photographs of women who labored with their bodies. In so doing, it calls into question the foundational discourses of Japanese postwar photographic realism and reveals a new perspective on the gendered dynamics therein.

Research paper thumbnail of Ogawa Kazumasa and the Halftone Photograph: Japanese War Albums at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Upon Ogawa Kazumasa’s (1860-1929) return from the United States in 1885, where he studied the lat... more Upon Ogawa Kazumasa’s (1860-1929) return from the United States in 1885, where he studied the latest techniques in photomechanical reproduction, he changed the way that photographs were consumed in Japan. Whether it was to use photographic technology to construct a fine arts heritage for Japan in relationship to the United States and Europe, or to utilize the halftone process to reproduce photographs in newspapers for the first time, Ogawa became the champion for using photographs to consume and transmit information about the world. In this article, I combine the scholarly perspectives of the history of technology, publishing, and art to consider the ways in which Ogawa’s many photographic activities in combination create a picture of contemporary attitudes toward the manifold possibilities of photography as an imaging technique at the turn of the twentieth century. Through a focus on the role he played in making it possible to cheaply mass reproduce photographs through the halftone process, I argue for Ogawa’s historical significance to our understanding of the many functions that photographs played in the press and the historical development of their increasing value as eyewitness documents during times of war. Focusing on photographs in wartime albums such as the A Photographic Album of the Japan-China War [Nisshin Sensō-zu日清 戰爭 寫眞圖] (1894-1894) I address the historical perspectives on the role that photographs played in communicating information across space and time and the business of war photography.

Permalink: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7977573.0007.201 [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7977573.0007.201] [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/]