Remembrance images: Japan in Oleguer Junyent’s photography collection at Amatller Hispanic Art Institute

Abstract

From the moment of the opening of Japan in the 19th century, the West experienced an enormous fascination with this country, an attraction that generated many artistic testimonies during the time of Japonisme. From 1868, the knowledge the West had of Japan increased through commerce and, later on in the Meiji era, through visitors who, in increasing numbers, travelled to the Land of the Rising Sun as a leisure destination.

Regarding photography, the interest on Japan materialized itself in the commercialization of sets of pictures with codified iconographies. These souvenir photographs turned into a thriving business, but at the same time they became a means by which the image of Japan was disseminated.

In contrast to this phenomenon, most common in the Meiji period, this paper addresses the photographic work by Oleguer Junyent, a Spanish artist who visited Japan around 1908 as part of a world tour. Through his photographs, we will study how this Western figure established a different set of parameters in his observation of Japan, offering a particular point of view alternative to commercial standards.

Although the object of our study are the photographs kept in the Amatller Hispanic Art Institute, which are part of the photography collection of the Adolfo Mas Archive, we will also support our investigation on the work Roda el món i torna al Born, the travel book Junyent published after his return in 1910, which is profusely illustrated.