Nakayama Iwata - Nakayama Iwata

Photographer. He brought modernism to the Japanese photography world in the early Showa period. Born in Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture. After graduating from the special photography department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1918 (Taisho 7), he traveled to the United States, and after passing through California, set up a studio on Fifth Avenue in New York (1921). He then traveled to France and Spain before returning to Japan, where he made friends with painter Tsuguharu Foujita and other avant-garde artists in Paris. He returned to Japan in 1927 (Showa 2), and from 1929 he settled in Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, and in 1930 he founded the Ashiya Camera Club with local photographers Kanbee Hanaya and Kichinosuke Benitani, developing the new photography movement and becoming popular for his avant-garde and fantastical style in portrait photography and photomontage.

He was also active as a member of the photography magazine "Kouga", edited by Nojima Yasuzo, and had a major influence on the amateur photography world of the time.

[Osamu Hiraki]

"Complete Collection of Japanese Photography 3: Images of Modern Photography" edited by Kuwahara Koshio (1986, Shogakukan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

写真家。昭和初期の日本の写真界にモダニズムを持ち込んだ。福岡県柳川(やながわ)生まれ。1918年（大正7）東京美術学校特設写真科を卒業すると渡米し、カリフォルニアを経てニューヨークの五番街にスタジオを設ける（1921）。その後、フランス、スペインを周遊して帰朝の途につくが、パリで画家藤田嗣治(つぐはる)やその仲間の前衛的な芸術家と交友。27年（昭和2）帰国、29年から兵庫県芦屋(あしや)市に居を定め、30年には地元のハナヤ勘兵衛(かんべえ)、紅谷吉之助(べにたにきちのすけ)らと「芦屋カメラクラブ」を創設し、新興写真運動を展開、肖像写真、フォトモンタージュなどに前衛的で幻想的な作風を示し人気を博した。

　また、野島康三(やすぞう)主宰の写真雑誌『光画(こうが)』の同人としても活躍、当時のアマチュア写真界に大きな影響を及ぼした。

［平木　収］

『桑原甲子雄編『日本写真全集3　近代写真の群像』（1986・小学館）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例