Before Dance 踊りの前

This work was selected for the All-Kansai Association of Photography Societies’ first Japan Photographic Salon in November 1926. The seal in the upper left-hand corner of this long, narrow image contains the characters Ko-ro-ku and seems to have been added in imitation of a Japanese-style painting. It is impossible to say if this scene was staged for the photograph or occurred in a dressing room before a Japanese dance performance. The mother’s meticulous attention to her daughter’s appearance is impressive. The degree to which this looks so completely like a Japanese painting demonstrates the matiere that the bromoil printing process could achieve.