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[photographers in the photo- seccession movement found] aesthetic inspir- ation for ... pictorial photo- graphy from Japanese prints, creating photo- graphs with rich, tonal qualities, asymmetrical compositions, and a lyrical poeticism.

...[M]any painters, photographers, and designers of [the] day, [were] influenced by Japanese aesthetics... [with a] style of photography [that] emulated Japanese aesthetics and compositions.

[M]any photographers in Stieglitz's circle [were] strongly influenced by ukiyo-e prints (translated as pictures of the floating world), which celebrated the delights of life during the Edo period (1600-1868) in Japan. Upon the opening of trade with Japan in the 1850s, Japanese art began circulating in the West and influencing Western art circles.1

Stieglitz argued that photo- graphers dealt with the same concerns that modern painters considered. Translating the influence of Japanese prints from painting and printmaking to photography was both a modern and an artistic thing to do.2

(clearly, none of these photographs emulate the pattern and design of the japanese prints; indeed, perhaps these are a better examination of japonairerie than japonisme. still, they're mostly shot by stieglitz's photo-seccession circle, which only goes to show that really nobody was immune to the beauty of kimono.)

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