It's not surprising that the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography has organized a retrospective on Shimooka Renjo, one of the very first commercial photographers in Japan. What is surprising is that it didn't happen sooner: The exhibition, at the museum through May 6 with a change of exhibits on April 7, is the first-ever large-scale retrospective on this pioneer of Japanese photography.
Shimooka Renjo (1823-1914) opened a photographic studio in Yokohama in 1862, having struggled for years to teach himself photography at a time when it was almost impossible to get information about this foreign technology. He played an important role in disseminating photography in Japan by teaching others, many of whom went on to open commercial studios. He was also honored by the Tokyo government before his death for his many contributions to the field.
So why hasn't there been a major retrospective of his work before? Two reasons, according to curator Keishi Mitsui. First, after Renjo died, doubts were raised about the veracity of a written account of his life, to the point that some scholars labeled him "Horafuki Renjo" ("Renjo the Braggard"). Recent research, however, has established that his account is largely true, and is in fact an important historical record. Second, there weren't many known examples of his work until discoveries in the last few years greatly increased the number of photographs that could be positively attributed. These advances made it possible to launch a large-scale exhibition.