Ogawa Kazumasa

About Ogawa Kazumasa

Ogawa learned photography and collotype printing in Boston in the early 1880s, then set up his own studio and printing works in Tokyo. Collotype prints a photograph from a gelatine-coated plate without a halftone screen, so tones run smoothly from light to dark; colour was then added to each sheet by hand. The blooms appear close up against plain, often dark grounds.

The chrysanthemums carry Japanese variety names: the spidery Nami-chi-dori and Kin-sui-ro, the pale yellow Ku-moi-sakura, the red Kin-shi-shi. The lilies range from the white Tametomo and Hakuwo to the speckled Shiro-kanoko and the yama-yuri, or mountain lily, from Karuizawa. Irises, peonies and a red-and-white striped camellia complete the set. Each plate is reproduced as a giclée print with pigment inks, made to order in Berlin, on matte 210 g/m² fine art paper or 400 g/m² cotton canvas in sizes A4 to A0.