Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Unless noted, digital media are not available online. Copies of unrestricted digital files will be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request. Access will be provided to use copies of unrestricted digital files rather than carrier media, such as CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks. Some or all electronic files may be unavailable or restricted due to privacy reasons, agreement with the donor, software is not available to interact with files, or because files cannot be retrieved from original media.
This album contains approximately 60 hand-colored albumen prints showing landscapes and architectural scenes in Japan during the late 19th Century.
Kusakabe Kimbei was a commercial photographer based in Yokohama, Japan, in the late nineteenth century, and he was one of the great Japanese photographers of his time. He had been an apprentice of Baron Raimund von Stillfried, an Austrian who established a photographic studio in Japan in 1871. When Stillfried left Japan in 1885, Kusakabe bought his mentor’s stock and initiated his own studio, which existed until 1912.
Stillfried’s firm had purchased the stock of Felice (or Felix) Beato in 1877. Beato was an Italian-born photographer who established a studio in Japan during the mid-1860s and was one of the first Westerners to bring photography to the East Asian country. He employed Japanese artists to color his albumen prints, and he became knowledgeable of such Japanese art traditions as ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Both Stillfried and Beato specialized in studio portraits and genre scenes. Beato also specialized in landscape photographs. Westerners fascinated by Eastern cultures formed the major audience for their work. Kusakabe continued these traditions, perfecting the psychological portrait, and he seems to have catered to the same audience.
The dimensions of the photographs are 21.5 x 28 cm (8.5 x 11 in). Photographs are of temples, shrines, gardens, pagodas, roads, and lakes. The album covers are lacquer with inlaid designs. Some photos include people but most are of architecture and landscape.
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries’ “Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain” and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.
[Identification of item], Album of Kusakabe Kimbei Photographs, MSS 00501, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Gift of Bill Huxster (probably 1980s)
Processed by: Cathy Dorin-Black; Collection guide written by: Cathy Dorin-Black and Todd Kosmerick
Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Unless noted, digital media are not available online. Copies of unrestricted digital files will be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request. Access will be provided to use copies of unrestricted digital files rather than carrier media, such as CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks. Some or all electronic files may be unavailable or restricted due to privacy reasons, agreement with the donor, software is not available to interact with files, or because files cannot be retrieved from original media.
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[Identification of item], Album of Kusakabe Kimbei Photographs, MSS 00501, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries’ “Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain” and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.