Torokyo 瀞峡

OGAWA Gesshu 小川月舟

This photograph received the second prize, the highest awarded at the sixteenth Kenten, in February 1927. The radical trimming, which resembles that found in Nihonga paintings, results in a long, wide image that “leaves only the essential, light and bright” and transforms the narrow valley into a powerful landscape. When the work was displayed, opinions about it were polarized. But KOMETANI Koro praised it, saying, “This is Torokyo, just as you perceived it. You have done well to achieve that goal, without exceeding the bounds of art.”

Collection of: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Title: Torokyo
Original title: 瀞峡
Artist Name: OGAWA Gesshu
Year: 1927
Material / Technique: Bromoil print
Dimensions: 264x568mm
Accession number: 10011408
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum “Search the Collection”: https://collection.topmuseum.jp/Publish/detailPage/43144/