was a renowned

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

and a mechanical engineer. He graduated from Tokyo University Technology Department with a mechanical engineering degree, and soon after was recruited by Takachiho Works Co., Ltd.(predecessor to Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.) in 1935, as a member of the project team who developed their first camera. In 1937, he designed the famed Olympus Standard, a rangefinder camera which was using 127 film format. Later he became Director and Head of the Camera Development Division of Olympus, and personally invited

Yoshihisa Maitani Yoshihisa Maitani (January 8, 1933 – July 30, 2009) was a designer of cameras for the Japan-based camera manufacturer Olympus Corporation. After studying mechanical engineering at university, he joined Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. (now Olympus C ...

to join the company in 1956. He retired of the company as senior executive director in 1974. He is most remembered for his work as an amateur photographer, receiving in 1965 the "Distinguished Contributions Award" from the Photographic Society of Japan for his long career and contributions to Japanese Photography. He also held a successful exhibition at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

Art Institute of Chicago
/ref> (from November 23, 1981, to January 10, 1982) where part of his work is presently preserved.

References

Japanese photographers 1909 births 1998 deaths {{Japan-photographer-stub