Takeji Iwamiya

Takeji Iwamiya (岩宮 武二, Iwamiya Takeji^?, 1920 – 1989) was a Japanese photographer particularly known for his depiction of architecture, gardens, and Japanese crafts.

Iwamiya was born on 4 January 1920 in Yonago, Tottori, the second son of parents running a shop selling traditional confectionery. An uncle of his ran a commercial photography studio, and this triggered the boy's interest in photography; but as a high school student he was keenest on baseball. After graduation from high school he worked Hankyu Department Store in Umeda (Osaka), where he entered the Mitsuwa photography club (ミツワ写真クラブ, Mitsuya shashin kurabu), led by Bizan Ueda and Nakaji Yasui. Following success in a photographic contest arranged by Asahi Shinbun, Iwamiya was invited to join the Tampei Photography Club and went on to become an assistant of Yasui's. He joined the Nankai Hawks in 1939 but left after half a year and in 1941 was sent to Manchukuo as a photographer.

Iwamiya returned to [mainland] Japan before the end of the war, and after the war opened a photofinishing shop serving a US base at Sannomiya (Kobe). While recuperating from tuberculosis in 1954, he photographed a mannequin factory nearby in Osaka; these photographs won the gold medal in the second Fuji Photo Contest, and were exhibited in the Matsushima Gallery (松島ギャラリー, Matsushima gyararī) in Ginza (Tokyo), as Iwamiya's first solo show. He also exhibited in West Germany, and at around this time got to know Ken Domon, who exerted a great influence on him. In 1955 he set up Iwamiya Photos (岩宮フォトス, Iwamiya fotosu) for commercial photography. Iwamiya's photographs of Sado island were exhibited at the Osaka Fuji Photo Salon and elsewhere in 1956; these would later appear in book form.

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