This thesis discusses the question as to how Yoshiwara was envisioned as a virtual place of escape in prints of the Edo-period (1603-1867). This is done through visual analysis of woodblock prints...Show moreThis thesis discusses the question as to how Yoshiwara was envisioned as a virtual place of escape in prints of the Edo-period (1603-1867). This is done through visual analysis of woodblock prints as primary sources, and information and arguments of academic literature as secondary sources. Overwhelmed by the strict Tokugawa society and the many calamities ravaging the city, the people of Edo could find a place of escape in the concept of the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters depicted in print. The practice of gayū (travelling whilst laying down) and the concepts of tsū (refinement) and iki (an urban aesthetic), are essential to this understanding.Show less
The Meiji period was the source of many anxieties about the modernity brought in from overseas. However, this also meant reaping the benefits of the modern life. Ukiyo-e prints were used in the Edo...Show moreThe Meiji period was the source of many anxieties about the modernity brought in from overseas. However, this also meant reaping the benefits of the modern life. Ukiyo-e prints were used in the Edo period to entertain people like modern social media and in the early Meiji period, this continued. Meiji Ukiyo-e prints showing trains, carriages, modern buildings, and schools were used to show the Japanese people around the country what positive things modernity could accomplish. These prints manufactured a positive form of modernity that had a soothing effect on people who had feelings of anxiety about the country opening up, foreigners coming in, and the political and cultural systems changing. The government could censor ukiyo-e prints and thus might even have a say in the changing topics to introduce modern things like trains and Western-style buildings. Publishers and the government's influence on the prints' topics could have made a manufactured positive modernity. Also, prints showed scenes that were either beautified scenes of reality or made up by artists to help manufacture a positive image of the Meiji period. Meiji ukiyo-e prints had the effect of creating a positive notion of reality not only for the image of Japan as a great nation to the foreign powers but also as a way to show the capabilities of Japan’s modernization skills to the nationals living in the Meiji era Japan.Show less
Recently, many contemporary photographers have started using analogue photography again. This is an interesting occurrence, since we’re living in a digital age where everything is technologically...Show moreRecently, many contemporary photographers have started using analogue photography again. This is an interesting occurrence, since we’re living in a digital age where everything is technologically possible. It seems as if contemporary photographers using analog, step out of today's digitized society and into the world of old techniques. This thesis is a study about the use of photography in a digital age. The case study used in this research is the artwork And, where did the peacocks go? by Miho Kajioka. This photographer has created analogue images which are shown on the artist’s website and social media. Analogue and digital photography are widely discussed by media critics whose vision differs from each other. One group of critics advocates for analog photography and its material and indexical characteristics. Whereas, the digital medium has none of these components. The other group of critics advocates a new vision of the contemporary use of the medium photography. Based upon this debate, this thesis explores the relationship between contemporary use of analog and digital photography with Kajioka’s work as an example. Her work has different themes and elements that will provide insight into the complexity of indexicality in various forms. On this basis, it shows how the analog and digital medium has melted into each other and how the process of analog is important for the end result of Kajioka’s series.Show less
