Shimooka Renjō
| Shimooka Renjō | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 下岡 蓮杖 |
| Born |
Sakurada Hisanosuke March 24, 1823 Shimoda, Japan |
| Died | March 3, 1914 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
Shimooka Renjō (下岡 蓮杖?, March 24, 1823 – March 3, 1914) was a Japanese photographer and was one of the first professional photographers in Japan. He opened the first commercial photography studio in Yokohama, and in Japan he is widely considered the father of Japanese photography.
He was born with the name Sakurada Hisanosuke in Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula in central Honshū to a samurai family. When he was thirteen years old he moved to Edo (Tokyo) to study painting and serve as an apprentice to a stock merchant. In 1843 he served as a samurai in the Shimoda artillery battery where he may have been first introduced to daguerreotypes from Holland. However, some accounts say that he was not exposed to photography until he returned to Edo to study art, becoming a student of Kanō Tōsen, the famous painter. These accounts report that he saw a Dutch photograph at the home of a Tokugawa clan member. He began studying photography when he could, and moved to Yokohama in 1859 or 1860 where he would begin his career in photography.
Renjō acquired his first camera in 1861 from the American photographer John Wilson by trading it for a painting of a panoramic scene. Shortly thereafter he abandoned his studies in painting and pursued photography as a career. He opened a photographic studio in Yokohama in 1862, one of the first in the country. He continued to open studios in the city, primarily focusing on portraiture, and changed his name to Shimooka Renjō in 1865. He taught many photographic students and apprentices before leaving his businesses to his pupils in 1877. He was elected to the Japan Photographic Society in 1893.
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