Untitled album

伝玉村 康三郎作 銀塩写真アルバム

This album is thought to come from the studio of Tamamura Kozaburo, who opened his business in Tokyo in 1874. In 1883 he moved to Yokohama, where he prospered as a competitor of Kusakabe Kimbei, who is represented by another album in this gallery. Kozaburo specialized in albums made to be souvenirs. He was at the height of his production in the 1880s and 1890s and was extremely successful in marketing his work. By the end of the nineteenth century, the golden pavilion at Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto had become a must-see destination for Western tourists in Japan. The gilded structure was originally constructed as part of a villa for shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408). Photographers eager to serve the new market for souvenir photographs immortalized the pavilion. In this album, Kinkakuji appears opposite a photograph of an ornate altar at Chion’in, a Kyoto Buddhist temple.