Soichi Sunami
Three Photographs of the Dancer Miriam Marmein, 1920s
Silver prints (3)
Each 10 x 8 inches
With Sunami's blind-stamp recto and credit stamp verso.
Two with manuscript notations verso identifying subject and performance.
With Sunami's blind-stamp recto and credit stamp verso.
Two with manuscript notations verso identifying subject and performance.
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Further images
A trio of captivating portraits by the important Japanese-American photograph Soichi Sunami. The subject is Miriam Marmein who, along with her sisters Irene and Phyllis, had a successful career in...
A trio of captivating portraits by the important Japanese-American photograph Soichi Sunami. The subject is Miriam Marmein who, along with her sisters Irene and Phyllis, had a successful career in vaudeville and were early proponents and practitioners of avant garde dance. One of the photographs show Marmein in a dance piece called "Prima Donna" and the other two show her as a "dance mine" in a piece called "Tis Love," possibly referring to a musical number from the 1927 show "Here Comes Love."
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.