was a Japanese
photographer
A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographe ...
. Kameya's original surname was Abe (); he was adopted by a family named Kameya. He learned photography at
Deshima
, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, it ...
, the Dutch enclave in the harbour of
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
where physicians
Jan Karel van den Broek Jan Karel van den Broek (4 April 1814, Herwijnen, Gelderland – 23 May 1865) was a Dutch physician based at Nagasaki, in Bakumatsu period Japan. While in Japan, he briefly taught medicine, chemistry and photography.
Early life
Jan Karel van ...
and
J. L. C. Pompe van Meerdervoort taught photography in addition to medicine and chemistry. In turn, Kameya taught photography to
Tomishige Rihei
was an important 19th and early 20th century Japanese photographer. He was a pioneer of wet-plate photography in Japan and was noted for his excellent large-format, albumen landscapes. Tomishige is especially renowned in Kyūshū.
In 1854 Tom ...
, who became his apprentice in 1862. The same year, Kameya moved to
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
to open a
photographic studio
A photographic studio is often a business owned and represented by one or more photographers, possibly accompanied by assistants and pupils, who create and sell their own and sometimes others’ photographs.
Since the early years of the 20th ce ...
– the first commercial studio in the city. In 1868, he returned to Nagasaki, where he operated a studio until his death. He died in 1884 in
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
, having opened a branch studio there.
Kameya had a daughter, Kameya Toyo (, 1852–1885), who assisted him in his Nagasaki studio and was one of Japan's first woman photographers. In 1871, she married Yoshii Teijirō (),
[Marriage: ''Nihon no shashinka'', s.v. "Kameya Toyo".] whom the family adopted and who took the name Kameya Teijirō; he also worked at the Nagasaki studio, later opening and operating a branch studio in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
until his death in 1885.
Kameya Tokujirō may have opened his Nagasaki studio before his 1862 move to Kyoto, and if so it may predate that of
Ueno Hikoma
was a pioneer Japanese photographer, born in Nagasaki. He is noted for his fine portraits, often of important Japanese and foreign figures, and for his excellent landscapes, particularly of Nagasaki and its surroundings. Ueno was a major figure ...
as the earliest in the city.
Notes
References
* Bennett, Terry. ''Photography in Japan: 1853–1912.'' Rutland, Vt: Charles E. Tuttle, 2006, p. 128. (hard)
*''Nihon no shashinka'' () / ''Biographic Dictionary of Japanese Photography.'' Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, 2005. . Despite the English-language alternative title, all in Japanese. S.vv. "Kameya Tokujirō", "Kameya Toyo"; pp. 132–33.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kameya, Tokujiro
Japanese photographers
Pioneers of photography
1825 births
1884 deaths