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Image of A Message to the West

Asakicki "Frank" Kunishige

Japanese-American
(1878–1960)

A Message to the West
1924

Bromide print
22.5 x 18.5 x 0.75 in.
Gift of the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation
2003.25

Frank Kunishige’s enigmatic photograph constitutes a bridge between pictorialism and modernism. A prominent member of the internationally acclaimed Seattle Camera Club, Kunishige was the only one of that group to feature the nude human figure in his compositions. This photograph depicts a Caucasian woman reading a scroll with Asian text unfurled against her crossed legs. Although the content of the text is unknown, the image implies a moment of enlightenment, indicated by the small beam of light shining from the scroll onto the woman’s face. The formal composition is classically pictorialist, with the figure seated below a large spherical shape implying a halo or enlightened deity. However, the stark nudity and unidealized figure align the work with more modernist concerns. Kunishige never used Asian women for his nude models; often he relied on dancers he met while documenting performances at the Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle.

Kunishige also made another, later version of this photograph. Both were inspired by illustrations for a 1905 edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by fellow Seattle photographer Adelaide Hanscom Leeson. Kunishige’s desire to experiment motivated him to create a specialized photographic paper that he marketed and sold under the name Textura Tissue. This resulted in a very delicate print that allowed light to pass through the fibers, creating a rich and luminescent surface.

After the Seattle Camera Club disbanded in 1929, Kunishige produced fewer exhibition prints and worked in the McBride Studio to make a living. Following his internment at Minidoka Relocation Center during World War II, he suffered from numerous health problems and ceased working as a photographer. He spent the last decade of his life primarily confined to his bed.

David F. Martin

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black, brown, female, nude, photographs, woman

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