Japanese Eclipse of 1887
SOLD March 2018 |
Vintage cabinet-card format albumen print showing the partial solar eclipse of 1887 as seen in Japan, by photographer Takeshi Tanaka, Tokyo. Photographer's imprint on card back with mix of Japanese and western characters reading "Photographer / T. Tanaka / inside of the Shimme-Temple / Shiba, Tokio."
The 1887 (partial) solar eclipse disappointed many would-be photographers due to cloud cover over much of Japan at the critical moments. Tanaka seems to have had better luck. Viewed under high magnification the thin crescent-shaped slice of sun visible in this image definitely appears photographic, not a manual embellishment
The effect known as "solarization," which converts extremely bright light into dark tones rather than light ones, is seen at work in this image, converting what would have been the blinding slice of uncovered sun into a slim dark crescent. This fortuitous (or ingenious) use of solarization probably allows Tanaka to represent the eclipse more clearly than correct tonal values could have. The dark (=extremely bright) slice of visible sun is shown surrounded by an ambient halo which renders correctly in image because of its much less intense light. It is possible that the cloud cover which frustrated so many observers of the eclipse was utilized by Tanaka as a moderating filter -- that he shot the image through a thin but not completely opaque layer of cloud -- and that this contributes to the halo effect around the sun's arc.
The Japanese text in negative reads: "Photographed by Takeshi Tanaka / Solar eclipse, 1887 August 19th, 3:45 PM."
I wish to thank Toshiko Abe for her kind assistance with this image.
BELOW: An illustration of onlookers admiring the 1887 eclipse in Tokyo, from a period Japanese print. (For full image visit: https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/gallery/weekly/2017/20170822-solareclipse.html)
