Soichi Sunami
Vaudeville Portrait, 1920s
Silver print
7 x 9 inches
With photographer's embossed credit stamp recto, stamped credit stamp verso, and manuscript caption reading "Garden of Dreams Publix Theatre" verso.
With photographer's embossed credit stamp recto, stamped credit stamp verso, and manuscript caption reading "Garden of Dreams Publix Theatre" verso.
This poetic image by the Japanese-American photographer Soichi Sunami reflects his skilled portraiture of dancers in the adolescence of modern dance in the 1920s and 30s. It is a prime...
This poetic image by the Japanese-American photographer Soichi Sunami reflects his skilled portraiture of dancers in the adolescence of modern dance in the 1920s and 30s. It is a prime example of Sunami’s ties with the Pictorialist movement of his time, a modernist style reinterpreting the purpose of photography.
Born on February 18, 1885 in Okayama, Japan, Soichi Sunami was a Japanese American photographer known for his collaborations with modern dancers. When he was twenty two years old, he immigrated to Seattle, Washington in 1907. It was at the Seattle Art Club where he discovered photography while studying painting. He honed in on his skills at Ella McBride’s Studio which gained Sunami access to a host of other well-known Seattle contemporaries in photography such as McBride’s husband, Wayne Albee; and fellow emigre, Frank Kunishige. He found local success in his new craft, gaining recognition for his exhibited work.
In 1921, Sunami relocated to New York to continue his studies in painting at the Art Students League while working at Nickolas Murray’s studio. Soon, he opened his own portrait studio on Fifth Avenue that led to his lifelong collaboration with dancers, including the renowned Martha Graham. Their work together garnered him wider recognition and in 1930, Sunami was given the title of official photographer for the newly-opened Museum of MOdern Art by Abigail Rockefeller herself. He became a commercial photographer for other art institutions and continued to work throughout his life, even during the Japanese antagonism during WWII, until his death on November 12, 1971. His prolific body of work has been shown in multiple New York galleries as well as museums such as the Whitney Museum and more recently, the Cascadia Art Museum held a major retrospective in 2018. Sunami is remembered today as a proponent of modernism of both photography and dance.
Born on February 18, 1885 in Okayama, Japan, Soichi Sunami was a Japanese American photographer known for his collaborations with modern dancers. When he was twenty two years old, he immigrated to Seattle, Washington in 1907. It was at the Seattle Art Club where he discovered photography while studying painting. He honed in on his skills at Ella McBride’s Studio which gained Sunami access to a host of other well-known Seattle contemporaries in photography such as McBride’s husband, Wayne Albee; and fellow emigre, Frank Kunishige. He found local success in his new craft, gaining recognition for his exhibited work.
In 1921, Sunami relocated to New York to continue his studies in painting at the Art Students League while working at Nickolas Murray’s studio. Soon, he opened his own portrait studio on Fifth Avenue that led to his lifelong collaboration with dancers, including the renowned Martha Graham. Their work together garnered him wider recognition and in 1930, Sunami was given the title of official photographer for the newly-opened Museum of MOdern Art by Abigail Rockefeller herself. He became a commercial photographer for other art institutions and continued to work throughout his life, even during the Japanese antagonism during WWII, until his death on November 12, 1971. His prolific body of work has been shown in multiple New York galleries as well as museums such as the Whitney Museum and more recently, the Cascadia Art Museum held a major retrospective in 2018. Sunami is remembered today as a proponent of modernism of both photography and dance.