I’m very excited about the most wonderful photographer I discovered!

Her name is Zaida Ben-Yusuf. She was born in London but moved to New York City as a young woman. She is known for her portraits, which are indeed incredible. I’ll share her work with you over time, but not all at once. It’s something that should be enjoyed a little at a time.

Today, I want to share four photographs she took when she traveled through Asia.

I wanted some music to fit with this post, but this is new territory for me! I hope you enjoy these songs. One is a Japanese song called Tankō Bushi, which translates to Coal Miner’s Song. The other two are beautiful Chinese songs from the 1930s.

Ben-Yusuf photographed the famous Buddhist scholar Ekai Kawaguchi, whom she photographed at the Oriental Hotel in Kobe, Japan. Details about their meeting are lost but we have two wonderful pictures she took of him. Ben-Yusuf’s portrait shows the recently returned scholar, age 37, kneeling on a mat in a pose characteristic of a formal meeting between two people in Japanese society. In one hand he holds a folded fan and in the other, Buddhist prayer beads. The kimono and surplice he is wearing are typical of a Buddhist monk’s robes in Japan. Ben-Yusuf’s goal was to capture Kawaguchi’s dignity and purposefulness.

Ekai Kawaguchi
Platinum print, 1903, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Here’s a condensed version of Kawaguchi’s backstory.  At the time this photograph was taken, he had recently returned to Kobe after six years abroad. He was the first Japanese person to enter Nepal and Tibet which were, at that time, closed to outsiders. Kawaguchi explained, “My sole object in going to Tibet was to complete my studies of Buddhism.”

To reach his destination, Kawaguchi took a punishing route through the Himalayas, which include the tallest mountains in the world, nearly dying of cold and starvation along the way. He managed to enter Tibet and, posing as a Chinese doctor, Kawaguchi began his studies at the Sera Monastic University. Later, he was even blessed by the Dalai Lama at his palace.

All of his success came to an abrupt halt when he was discovered to be an intruder in the country illegally. The punishment for such a crime was harsh. Kawaguchi fled, and escaped to Darjeeling. Those who had assisted him along the way were not so lucky. They were imprisoned and faced severe punishment.

Kawaguchi was ill but he sought a pardon for the people who had helped him advance his Buddhism studies. He met with the prime minister of Nepal and wrote an apology to the Dalai Lama, which proved successful. Japan welcomed him back with joyous celebrations.

Kawaguchi was as famous as a man could be in Japan in 1903. But Ben-Yusuf’s other photographs from Kobe are of an anonymous geisha dancer. The titles of the photographs are The Dancer and The Piano of Nippon. Nippon is an ancient name for Japan.

Ben-Yusuf wrote about her anonymous subject in the Saturday Evening Post when she returned to the United States. “She was a perfectly charming little girl about fourteen years old, prettier than most of them, and always careful to follow the etiquette of her profession, bowing politely to the singers who accompanied her as well as to her audience at the end of each dance. The costume she wore was of heavy black crepe, the flowers formed in the dyeing process and not embroidered. Keeping her hands hidden in the kimono sleeves is a souvenir of old-fashioned elegance.”

The Dancer and The Piano of Nippon
Halftone prints published in Leslie’s Monthly Magazine, February 1905
Firestone Library, Princeton University, New Jersey

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