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This print is by the artist Saito Kiyoshi with the title Saga Kyoto (D).

Saitou Kiyoshi was a Sousaku-hanga artist, or a woodblock artist whom completed all of the steps himself. The Sousaku-hanga art movement attempted to place self reliance on the artist, and to distance the artist from other parties involved. This was designed to let the artist express themselves more freely, and make art for the sake of art.
Saitou is known for mixing traditional elements with modern aspects, mostly featuring architecture and plants. In his early works, Saitou focused on realism, with a higher degree of depth. As he progressed, Saitou flattened his works and added a modern touch.

This particular print was finished in 1968, and was titled 'Saga Kyoto (D)'. The 'D' denotes the 4th work to bear the title 'Saga Kyoto'. Overall, the scene appears as if the viewer is in some sort of structure and is looking outward.
One thing that I have noticed by looking through a few of Saitou's work's is his use of textures. As his works are flat, texture helps to add a different feeling to a surface without making it look 3 dimensional. Here, he does not use multiple textures as he does in some images, but rather uses one overarching grainy texture. In this image, the grainy texture could be used to denote that the scene is occurring at night, or a sense of fogginess. Either way, the grain darkens the image and connotes a sense of mystery or uncertainty. The grain also gives different qualities to the colors used; the green 'plant' is brighter than some of the brown 'wood' for instance, because the green was painted over the grain, while the brown was painted under it.
Throughout the image there is also a seemingly purposeful sense of inconsistency. The view through the gate/door structure is different from the inside, blocks of color extend over areas where one would not expect them to (with our perceived thought of what the image is), plants and poles are very similar in form, etc. This all ties in with the flat quality of the image. Without any clear perspective, multiple views are available to the viewer, creating different possibilities within the image. This also makes it so that what the shapes and colors in the image represent are harder to distinguish individually; one must look at the whole image, to grasp what one part of it may be, and even then, it is unclear.

Overall, the image exudes a sense that was it displays cannot be totally grasped. This perhaps plays on our use of signs to discern the meaning in an image.

Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom in Ueno

(oops forgot where to get the picture of my print)

This print is by Hiroshige, and is entitled Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom in Ueno. It belongs to a series of prints; Famous Places in Edo, and pictures Cherry Blossoms blooming in Ueno Park. The actual condition of the print is fair; there is mild discoloration, wear, and line and registration problems.

The artist behind this print, Hiroshige, showed artistic skill from a young age, and became a fireman at age 13, and used the large amount of extra time he had to continue to develop his skills as an artist, reported to be influenced by Hokusai. At age 15, he apprenticed under Toyohiro, after being rejected by Toyokuni, whom had too many students to take on another.
Under Toyohiro, Hiroshige was apparently a somewhat rebellious, but good student, and as he progressed, was eventually asked to take on the name of his master, which he declined. At first specializing in pictures of actors and women, Hiroshige later changed to mainly landscape ukiyo-e, and secured fame with his '53 Station of the Tokaido'.
He himself took on few pupils, as Hiroshige believed that art was mainly a self-learning process. He kept producing artwork into his later years, although they generally did not hold as much popularity as his earlier and mid works. Before his death, Hiroshige became a monk, but died not long afterward from Cholera.

The print itself features a Cherry Blossom viewing in Ueno, a clear denotation of a spring activity. It is a familiar setting, one that most likely occurs in Ueno park, still a prominent spot for cherry blossom viewing, with over 1,000 cherry trees.

The composition is unified by the straight line of buildings in the background, allowing the viewers eye to travel horizontally across the image. The cherry blossoms intersect along this line, connecting the eye to the main theme of the image. Along with this, the eye is also allowed to move vertically due to the tall trees and foreground building, which are distributed evenly along the image.
The image is flattened, but still posses perspective. Diagonal lines are used largely in the architecture, and originate from the lower left hand corner of the piece.
The subject of the picture consists of a mixture of human and naturalistic components, with an emphasis on the naturalistic. People present in the picture are small and not heavily defined, although distinction is made between the men and women present in the picture. In contrast, the naturalistic components are varied and appear much larger than the people themselves. The only human element comparable is the building in the foreground. However, both natural and humanistic elements are nicely integrated, as both move into the space of the other. There is also a sense of movement in this print; the indistinct nature of the people gives them a crowd like feel, and it would seem as if they are moving all over the image. The cherry blossoms themselves also must fall, and thus carry a sense of movement as well. The image also sports a juxtaposition of warm and cool colors, which helps to balance the composition.

Cherry blossoms serve as a signifier of many signified values, such as spring, nature, beauty, transience, and change. Together with the large gathering of people, and the fact that the print is presented to us as being in Ueno, one could also discern the signified values of Ueno Park, festivals, cherry blossom parties, and anything else specific to the viewer. Together with the other naturalistic elements combined with the humanistic ones, it also connotes a feeling of integration with nature. The tall trees jagged edges and dark coloring also contrast with the dreamy quality of the cherry blossoms, leading to a more natural than dream-like feeling. The warm colors against the cool ones also signifies spring, as it is during this season when warmer weather begins to break out from the cold weather. Overall, a very calming, naturalistic and spring focused work.

Rebel Curls

Source

I found this image to be really striking. I suppose what draws me in most is her expression; although none of her facial features are every strongly defined, she still carries a very intense, even a little rebellious look. Her gaze is very focused, and unlike most of the pictures of women we have seen so far, she is not looking away from the viewer, but up and outside the frame of the picture, with a 3/4 shot of her face. Her hair itself is also of interest; showcasing a new, non-traditional style, it feels rebellious, especially as it helps to mask her face.

Her expression here may just be due to her concentration on her hair, but I still feel that it is a powerful and important component of the image. I think this is especially true in the context of the image, where she is modeling her hair after a bob-cut, connoted with youth and liberation, all of which I feel play off of each other.

There are also strong western signifiers in this image. Her hair style, clothing, make-up, and possibly even attitude all seemed to be influenced by U.S. fashion. From reading the information from here she may have even been a 'moga'; one of the Japanese women whom began to embrace western culture. Her more powerful gaze and less conservative dress seem to support this. There is also the question of what is simply modernization and what is westernization.


I feel that this photograph is also interesting in that it is done in a portrait style, yet is not a traditional portrait. Instead, the photograph reaches beyond the typical standards of a portrait and allows itself both to focus on the woman and her task at hand. I feel that this helps to emphasize her modern outlook, and also distances the photograph from photography marketed towards globetrotters. In any manner, a captivating and interesting portrait.

Globetrotee

So! I finally decided to catch up with my ol' chap Winchester, and become a real globetrotter myself by traveling to the mysterious land of Japan! The journey itself was quite interesting, what with all of those exotic peoples along the way, but I must say by far that Japan was my favorite! Hohoho.

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After arriving in Yokohama, I immediately wanted to see everything and more! One of my first favorite scenes was of this quaint Japanese garden; it was so different from our own, rich bustling home! Since the Japanese still aren't quite on the up and up yet, they have much of this scenery still preserved; it's really quite relaxing. Hohohohoho. You can see the still great use of wooden framework too! Quite pretty architecture, I must say. Moving on...

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As I progressed through my journey into this beautify wild and exciting country, I began to admire its people as well as its scenery! These three lovely ladies are dressed in the traditional dress of the country, which as you can see is quite different from our own. Still quite flowing, modest and feminine though, hohohoho. The more well bred youth in he country is tasked with learning the arts, though I'm not sure how artful this music was, hohohohoho. Quite fascinating though, to see how different their use of instruments is from ours.



Their country folk though, are quite a different story! Not as interesting I would say, as the young girls about the town, but quite quaint! They seem to be hard working people, rough and tumble, I would say, hohoho! Didn't feel the need to stray much in small towns such as in the one where we saw these folk, but they seem to share the same passion for that plain tea as much as the rest of the Japanese!

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Some of the Japanese architecture were really quite a sight! Pagodas and temples often fit in well with the greenery around them, looking almost as old as the forest! In this particular one, you can really see the ornate detail the Japanese put into their work. Very fun coloration as well, really added to how exotic this building felt! The stone lanterns in front really add to the mysterious atmosphere as well, eh?



Perhaps one of the most intriguing things I saw was a sacred dance by the natives! Quite strange sounding and slow, but perhaps appropriate for the worship of their own heathenish gods, eh? Hohohoho. It almost appeared as something pulled out of the depths of time, what with the ancient stone surrounding us, the manner of dress and the manner of worship going on. Quite the interesting costumes and scenery, though!

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So, for this post, I attempted to take on the persona of a rich old man with some time on his hands whom decided to follow the globetrotter trend. The man I portrayed very clearly had a sense that the west was superior to Japan, and chose to look only at the portions of Japan that resonated with his view that Japan was not modernized; commenting upon the untouched nature of Japan, what looked to be ancient traditions and its architecture, which is quite different from the east. He also seems to think that Christianity is superior to any Japanese sort of worship, and is thus intrigued by any sort of Buddhist or Shinto practice, which also helps him to classify the Japanese as 'other'. Overall, he views the western world as more modernized, educated and 'right', while viewing Japan as underdeveloped, exotic, and as a place to be viewed and studied.

Globetrotting

So, there were many images in this galley that I really liked, however I chose this one because I felt it more personally tied me to the concept at hand.

While going through the Globetrotters : Places galley, I found myself being attracted to certain pictures that reminded me of my own stay in Japan, which I found to be pretty ironic.

Pictures of places I had been to, pictures that reminded me of scenery I had seen in Japan, and even pictures of places that I had not gone to, but heard about stuck out in my mind. Thinking about that, I could more easily understand how photography companies at this time were able to make so much money off of globetrotters.

This particular image, of the Grea Buddha in Kamakura is definitely a location that would stick out in a globetrotters mind. It for one, is representative of the myth of foreign religion in Japan, something that westerns of that time would both be intrigued in, yet also feel superior from, due to the fact that Christianity was considered the only true religion in their eyes. This is enhanced by its large size, which creates a feeling of larger worship, and thus serves to be even more interesting.

The location itself is also quite memorable, with many temples in the surrounding area as well. Together, this culminates to make the Great Buddha appear representative of all the Buddhist influence a globetrotter may have experienced in the area.

Overall, this image would have captured both of the hegemonic western/globetrotter myths about Japan's 'otherness' in its beautiful and exotic, but also perceived to be barbaric nature.




These were the two pictures I managed to get of the Great Buddha. From these, you can kind of see how it is actually very tourist oriented today, with stalls nearby where you can buy various Buddhist influenced items, and even an opening made in the side of the Great Buddha so that you can go inside of it and make your way to the top. Just thought it was interesting how it changed over time...and how many westerners visiting Japan are still interested in it.




I thought this image was interesting, kind've cute and different at the same time, which I think is where its appeal lies...

It is obviously staged, but showcases many various Japanese connotations, the dress, the hair, the setting, the method of dance, etc. Yet, it also shows young girls, (one whom may have the mumps?), which is a little different from the standard showcasing of grown women.

Due to this, globetrotters could remember any dance performances they might have witnessed, along with any memories of children they might have kept. Again, this image also draws upon the exotic myth of Japan, and allows the viewer to make their own interpretations of what childhood for a young girl in Japan may have been like, suturing themselves into the image.