Japonisme

Japonisme, the Western fad for imitating Japanese art styles, took several forms in the 19th century – particularly through clothing, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony. These photographs demonstrate this Western desire to both observe and take part in Japanese culture. In the first, a Western couple acts out a Japanese fantasy, drinking tea while kneeling, dressed in Japanese-style clothing, and surrounded by Japanese-style folding screens and floral arrangements. The second, taken by a Japanese photographer and sold to Western audiences, shows an educated Japanese woman dressed in a kimono writing calligraphy with a brush and ink. Both photos have been staged and their actors arranged to fit idealizations of Japanese culture dictated by the tastes and desires of the Western audiences that bought these photographs.