Asakichi “Frank” Kunishige (1878-1960) was a Japanese-American

Pictorialist Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer ha ...

photographer. He was a founding member of the Seattle Camera Club. He created and sold his own photographic paper, Textura Tissue, which was a favorite of club members because it emphasized the soft qualities that Pictorial photographers prized. Along with Wayne Albee and

Soichi Sunami Soichi Sunami (角南壮一, given name translating as "magnificent first son," and family name translating as "south corner"; 1885–1971) was a Japanese and American modernist photographer, influenced by the pictorialist movement, and best ...

, he worked for

Ella E. McBride Ella Etna McBride (November 17, 1862 – September 14, 1965) was an American fine-art photographer, mountain climber, and centenarian known for her career achievements after age sixty. In addition to running her own photography studio for over t ...

at the McBride studio. During the 1920s, Kunishige’s work was included in many prominent international exhibitions including those of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

, London; the Pittsburgh Salon; the Buffalo Salon; the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

; and numerous others. From 1925 through 1929, he was one of the most exhibited Pictorialist photographers in the world. His work was illustrated in national and international publications including ''Photofreund'', the ''American Annual of Photography'' and ''Photo-Era''. During the

Internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

during

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, following the signing of

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a President of the United States, United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the fo ...

, Kunishige was detained at

Camp Harmony Camp Harmony is the unofficial euphemistic name of the Puyallup Assembly Center, a temporary facility within the system of Japanese American internment, internment camps set up for Japanese Americans during World War II. Approximately 7,390 America ...

before being transferred to Minidoka in Idaho.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunashige, Frank 1878 births 1960 deaths Pictorialists American artists of Japanese descent People from Yamaguchi Prefecture Japanese emigrants to the United States Japanese-American internees Portrait photographers