Tampei Photography Club

The nihongo|Tampei Photography Club|丹平写真倶楽部 was a group based in Osaka from 1930 until 1941 that promoted avant-garde and, toward the end, socially concerned photography.

The group was founded around the photographer Bizan Ueda, among photographers who bought their supplies from the Tampei Pharmacy (nihongo2|丹平薬局, "Tanpei yakkyoku") in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. The founding members included Terushichi Hirai, Kōrō Honjō and Tōru Kōno; these were soon augmented by Kaneyoshi Tabuchi, Nakaji Yasui, and others.

The group's first exhibition was held in 1931 but it was the second exhibition, in 1932, that caused a stir, with avant-garde works. The club exhibited frequently; its first exhibition in Tokyo held in 1935.

The club's 23rd exhibition, in March 1941, featured a series titled "Refugee Jews" (nihongo2|流氓ユダヤ, "Ryūbō Yudaya") [Also translatable as "Displaced Jews," etc., often referred to as "Wandering Jew."] of 22 photographs depicted exiles from eastern Europe who were living in Kobe. Six of these were by Yasui, who had instigated two photography sessions for it earlier that month. ["Tanjō hyakunen: Yasui Nakaji: Shashin no subete" / "Nakaji Yasui 1903–1942: The Photography," p. 136; the same book shows a larger number of Yasui's own photographs in the series are shown on pp. 136–42.] The club was forced to close later that year.

The club reemerged after the war, but did not regain its prominence.

Notes

References

*"Nihon shashinka jiten" (nihongo2|日本写真家事典, "328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers"). Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. ISBN 4-473-01750-8. ja icon P. 346.
*"Tanjō hyakunen: Yasui Nakaji: Shashin no subete" (誕生百年：安井仲治写真：写真のすべて) / "Nakaji Yasui 1903–1942: The Photography." 2004. No publisher specified, but presumably one or more of the Shoto Museum of Art (Tokyo), the Nagoya City Art Museum (Nagoya), and Kyodo News (Tokyo); the first two hosted a centenary exhibition of Yasui's works. Paperback. Also: "Yasui Nakaji shashinshū" (安井仲治写真集) / "Nakaji Yasui: Photographer 1903–1942." Tokyo: Kyodo News, 2004. ISBN 4-7641-0542-X. Hardback. The catalogue for the Shoto/Nagoya exhibition of 2004/2005; text in both Japanese and English. Despite their different titles, the two books seem to be virtually identical.
*Tucker, Anne Wilkes, et al. "The History of Japanese Photography." New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-300-09925-8. Pp. 375.