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Sunday, April 30, 2017

Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York

The Waldorf Astoria, New York, 1909

West 33rd St. - Hotel Waldorf-Astoria - Knickerbocker Trust Co. - Aeolian Hall, pianos - No. 362 Maillards, confectioners, 1911

Source: From the New York Public Library

The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel in Manhattan, New York City. The hotel has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York. The first, bearing the same name, was built in two stages, as the Waldorf Hotel and the Astor Hotel, which accounts for its dual name. That original site was situated on Astor family properties along Fifth Avenue, opened in 1893, and designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh. It was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building.

 

Tokyo by Kusakabe Kimbei

Shinobadzu (Pond) Uyeno Tokio, 1880-1890

View of Uyeno Tokio, 1880-1890

Scene Sumida River at Mukojima, Tokio, 1880-1890

Cherry Flower-Street, at Mukojima, Tokio, 1880-1890

Horikiri, Iris Flower Garden at Tokio

Oji Tea House at Tokio, 1880-1890
Source: From the New York Public Library

COLLECTION HISTORY

Photographic albums, photographically illustrated books, and archival photographs have been in the Library's collections and predecessor collections since the mid- to late-19th century. They therefore came to their present location in the Photography Collection of the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs through various means, including purchase, gift, and transfer from other divisions. Important early albums of photographs of East Asia are still entering the Library's collections, and their contents will eventually be added to this digital presentation.

BACKGROUND

The technology of photography was introduced into Asian countries soon after its invention in various forms in Europe. The first daguerreotype camera was imported into Japan in 1848 (the patent dates to 1839). Wet and dry plate photographic processes were introduced into Japan by Dutch photographers stationed on the island of Dejima, in Nagasaki Bay, beginning in the 1850s. Felice Beato accompanied the British expeditionary army into China in 1860, and photographed the first military campaign. Beato set up his photographic studio with Charles Wirgman in Yokohama in 1863. The peripatetic Beato opened a photography studio and curio shop in Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1885. English photographers such as John MacCosh and Captain Linnaeus Tripe were photographing in Burma from the 1850s. These two photographers were also active in British India, and the introduction of photography into India follows the same patterns as for the other Asian countries. As was the case in Japan, Indian photographers were active at a very early stage, and made major contributions to the genre.

A major Japanese photographer whose work is represented in these digital images is Kimbei (Kusakabe Kimbei), thought to have been a pupil of Beato. He assisted Beato in the hand-coloring of photographs until 1863. He set up his own large and flourishing studio in Yokohama in 1881.

The digital images in this presentation provide a rich resource for the understanding of the political, social, economic, and artistic history of Asia from the 1870s to the early 20th century. Japan was first opened to foreigners following the entry of Admiral Perry into Tokyo Bay in 1853 (a daguerreotype photographer accompanied Perry's expedition). We thus have an extensive photographic documentation of Japan, and of interaction between the Japanese and foreigners, from this period on. In the broadest sense, photography entered Asia from Europe and America as part of the process of colonialism, but soon took root in those regions with local photographers, who learned the craft from European and American photographers, along with travelers, military people, and merchants.

RELATED RESOURCES

Advent of Photography in Japan = Shashin torai no koro (1997).

Harris, David. Of Battle and Beauty: Felice Beato's Photographs of China (1999).

Imperial China: Photographs 1850-1912, historical texts by Clark Worswick and Jonathan Spence, with a foreword by Harrison Salisbury (1978).

India: Pioneering Photographers:1850-1900 (2001).

India Through the Lens:Photography 1840-1911 (2000).

Japanische Photographie 1860-1929 (1993).

Nihon shashin zenshu = The Complete History of Japanese Photography. 12 volumes (1985-).

Singer, Noel F., Burmah: A Photographic Journey, 1855-1925 (1993).

Winkel, Margarita. Souvenirs from Japan: Japanese Photography at the Turn of the Century (1991).


Saturday, April 29, 2017

Trucks, West and Desbrosses Sts., Manhattan, New York

Trucks, West and Desbrosses Sts., Manhattan, 1936
Source: From the New York Public Library

Alice in wonderland

The Rabbit Scurried, 1866

Alice in wonderland

His favourite part, 1871
Source: From the New York Public Library

Video
Alice in Wonderland is a 1915 silent film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, directed and written by W. W. Young and starring Viola Savoy as Alice.


Friday, April 28, 2017

Tugboats, Pier 11, East River, Manhattan, New York

Tugboats, Pier 11, East River, Manhattan, 1936
Source: From the New York Public Library

Ali Baba and the forty thieves

Ali Baba and the forty thieves, 1895

Ali Baba and the forty thieves, 1895

When Margiana saw the mark, she chalked several other doors in the same manner, 1895

So he went his way full of rage and despair, and returned to the cave, and there formed a project of revenge, 1895
Source: From the New York Public Library

Video
Ali Baba et les Quarante Voleurs est un film muet français réalisé par Ferdinand Zecca, produit par Pathé Frères et sorti en 1902.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Triborough Bridge, New York

Triborough Bridge, (cables), Manhattan, 1937

Triborough Bridge, steel girders, Manhattan, 1937

Triborough Bridge, East 125th Street approach, Manhattan, 1937
Source: From the New York Public Library

Scenes from Frankenstein

Scenes from Frankenstein, 1910
Source: From the New York Public Library

Video
Frankenstein is a 1910 film made by Edison Studios. It was written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. 

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Tri-boro Barber School, 264 Bowery, Manhattan, New York

Tri-boro Barber School, 264 Bowery, Manhattan, 1935
Source: From the New York Public Library

The Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., 1925

The Lincoln Memorial, 1925
Source: From the New York Public Library

The Lincoln Memorial is an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument.


Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Travelling tin shop, Brooklyn, New York

Travelling tin shop, Brooklyn, 1936
Source: From the New York Public Library

Flatiron building, New York

AjoutFlat Iron Building, New York, N. Y., 1898-1931

Flatiron Building, New York, N.Y., 1898-1931
Source: From the New York Public Library

Flatiron building, 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, 1938
Source: From the New York Public Library

The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story steel-framed landmarked building located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, and is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Third Avenue Car Barn, Third Avenue and 65th Street, Manhattan, New York

Third Avenue Car Barn, Third Avenue and 65th Street, Manhattan, 1936
Source: From the New York Public Library

Veduta della vasta Fontana di Trevi anticamente detta l'Acqua Vergine

Veduta della vasta Fontana di Trevi anticamente detta l'Acqua Vergine, 1748-1751
Source: From the New York Public Library

The Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci.


Sunday, April 23, 2017

Three-decker houses, 11th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Manhattan, New York

Three-decker houses, 11th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Manhattan, 1937
Source: From the New York Public Library

Le Louvre

Clock Tower of the Louvre- old part, 1850-1860

Old Louvre, 1850-1860

Panorama du Louvre, 1850-1860

Pavillon Richelieu- Detail, 1850-1860

Pavillon Turgot- New Louvre, 1850-1860

Louvre- Facade on the Rue de Rivoli, 1850-1860

Louvre- Bibliotheque Impériale, 1850-1860

Louvre- Facade on the Rue de Rivoli- Detail, 1850-1860

Louvre- Pavillon de Rohan, 1850-1860

Pont Royal and Louvre, 1850-1860

La Colonnade du Louvre, 1850-1860

New Louvre, 1850-1860

Principal Pavillon of the Louvre- Detail, 1850-1860

New Louvre, 1850-1860

New Louvre, 1850-1860

New Louvre, 1850-1860

New Louvre, 1850-1860
Source: From the New York Public Library

The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the world's second largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement.


Saturday, April 22, 2017

Theoline, New York

Theoline, Pier 11 or 12, East River, Manhattan, 1936

Theoline, Pier 11, East River, Manhattan, 1936
Source: From the New York Public Library