Portrait of an old Woman [Roba-zo].

£350 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Kijima (1920-2011) was a noted professional photographer in Japan. Born in California in 1920 the family returned to Japan in 1924. He studied film-making at Nihon University and graduated in 1943 before joining the naval air corps where he trained as a kamikaze pilot. After the war he studied photography under Ueda Shoji. For some time he followed the realist school and it in 1950 he submitted the present solarised image of an old woman to a competition organised by (Ars) Camera magazine for which he received high praise by Domon Ken. In the late 50s he provoked outrage when he photographed female nudes in front of the Imperial Sakurada gates. Later he became famous for his achievements in advertising photography. The present image was printed as a isaku memento after Kijima’s death by his widow Kijima Setsuko.

• Year: 2011

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