Synopses & Reviews
This is the first survey of the iconic figure in Northwest Coast art- Charles Edenshaw. Bringing together the largest number of works by Charles Edenshaw ever assembled, offering a rare opportunity to view his legacy. Working in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he was an exceptional carver of wood, silver and argillite, imbuing traditional Haida design with an innovative and elegant personal style. Recognized in his time as an outstanding carver, his work continues to be a great inspiration to those who visit the many prominent museums around the world that hold his acclaimed artworks in their collections. Not only do these remarkable objects tell us much about Haida culture, but they are truly sophisticated in their aesthetic achievement.
In collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery and the largest retrospective of Edenshaws work to date. The book sets up the Haida tradition and explains Edenshaws Haida roots, including interviews with descendants from the region. Edenshaws distinct style is addressed along with the issues surrounding attribution with the Haida artworks. Charles Edenshaw carved into wood, argillite and precious metals. His work has been collected by anthropologists and curators in an attempt to record Haida art and culture before it died. Other Haida artists in the tradition include Charles F. Newcombe, Franz Boas and John R. Swanton.
Much attention is given to the legacy of Charles Edenshaw and the contemporary artists that he influenced, the book includes an interview with contemporary artists Raymond Boisjoly, Neil Campbell, Robert Linsley and Isabel Rorick. Edenshaws work is photographed here in this first major monograph on the important Haida artist, ideal for anyone with an interest in Northwest Coast art.
Synopsis
Margaret Thomas became fascinated with Shoki Kayamoriand#8217;s images and story years ago, and this ambitious book reveals the depths of her engagement with this man and his art. Part history, part biography, part photographic showcase,
Picture Man turns the old adage about pictures and words around and around again. Fans of history and photography from Tokyo to Nome will find insights and details available nowhere else. And in the center of that history, an enigmatic man with camera.
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Shoki Kayamori left an enduring legacy, hundreds of images of a small, Alaska village, that captured a divided and changing place and time. But in Picture Man, Margaret Thomas gives the reader more than one lens through which to view Kayamoriand#8217;s life. She explores the economic and political realities the sent Kayamori, and thousands like him, out of Japan toward opportunity and adventure in the United States, especially the Pacific Northwest. The courtship, wedding, and life together of Helen Emery and Gunjiro Aoki highlight the racism that sent many young men north to work in the canneries of Alaska.and#160;
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In the early 20th century, Kayamori made his way to Yakutat to work in the canneries, too. But he also took a camera. For the next three decades, Shoki Kayamori would document the lives of his friends and villagers. But as tensions leading up the Japanand#8217;s involvement in World War II escalated, Kayamori took his own life.
Synopsis
In 1912, Shoki Kayamori and his box camera arrived in a small Tlingit village in southeast Alaska. At a time when Asian immigrants were forbidden to own property and faced intense racial pressure, the Japanese-born Kayamori put down roots and became part of the Yakutat community. For three decades he photographed daily life in the village, turning his lens on locals and migrants alike, and gaining the nickname andldquo;Picture Man.andrdquo; But as World War II drew near, his passion for photography turned dangerous, as government officials called out Kayamori as a potential spy. Despondent, Kayamori committed suicide, leaving behind an enigmatic photographic legacy.
In Picture Man, Margaret Thomas views Kayamoriandrsquo;s life through multiple lenses. Using Kayamoriandrsquo;s original photos, she explores the economic and political realities that sent Kayamori and thousands like him out of Japan toward opportunity and adventure in the United States, especially the Pacific Northwest. She reveals the tensions around Asian immigrants on the West Coast and the racism that sent many young men north to work in the canneries of Alaska. And she illuminates the intersectingandmdash;and at times conflictingandmdash;lives of villagers and migrants in a time of enormous change. Part history, part biography, part photographic showcase, Picture Man offers a fascinating new view of Alaska history.
About the Author
Margaret Thomas is a librarian and journalism instructor at South Puget Sound Community College. She lives in Olympia, Washington.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Meiji Japan
Chapter 2: The West Coast
Chapter 3: The Aokis
Chapter 4: Cannery Life
Chapter 5: Yakutat
Chapter 6: Spies
Chapter 7: The Kayamori Collection
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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