was a Japanese

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 ...

. Born in 1931 in Tosa, Kōchi Prefecture, Inoue became the first apprentice to Takeji Iwamiya in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

in 1951. While continuing to work with Iwamiya in 1954, he started work as temporary cameraman for

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...

in Osaka. Iwamiya recognized his talent and from 1958 encouraged the young Inoue to roam the streets of Kamagasaki in

Nishinari-ku, Osaka is one of the 24 wards of Japan, wards of Osaka, Japan. It contains some shopping and entertainment areas, such as Tamade. It lies directly south of the Namba transport hub and extends further south toward Sumiyoshi Park. It is served by the Nank ...

, permitting him to develop his private work in the studio darkroom. During the 1950s, Inoue developed a reputation as a young documentary photographer. In 1959 he was a prizewinner in the Fuji Photo Film Contest Professional Section. In Tokyo, during May 1960, he held his first solo exhibition, "The Hundred Faces of Kamagasaki", which was awarded Newcomer Prize by Camera Geijutsu magazine. In 1961 he also received the Newcomer's Award from the Japan Photography Critics' Association. In 1959,

Daidō Moriyama is a Japanese photographer best known for his black-and-white street photography and association with the avant-garde photography magazine ''Provoke (magazine), Provoke''. Moriyama began his career as an assistant to photographer Eikoh Hosoe, ...

joined Iwamiya's studio before moving to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in 1961. Moriyama credits Inoue with setting him on the road to photography and as being highly influential in developing his photographic style. Writing for Inoue's Retrospective exhibition in 2005, Moriyama wrote: "his words - 'You coming, Mori?' - calling me to accompany him to Kamagasaki set me on the road to becoming a photographer" and "without the pioneering Inoue I would not have set out upon the long road of photography that I have followed".''Shashinka Inoue Seiryū Kaikoten'' () / ''Retrospective Exhibition of Seiryū Inoue, Photographer.'' Amagasaki City Sogo Bunka Centre, 2005. In Japanese. Inoue continued to work in

, becoming a teacher of documentary photography at Osaka Geijutsu (Art) University and eventually a full professor in 1987. Following his work in Kamagasaki, Inoue photographed ethnic Koreans emigrating from Japan to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and the festivals and city of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, among other subjects. He was engaged in photographing daily life on the

Amami Islands The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is a Japanese archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is sout ...

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

when he met an accidental death in

Tokunoshima , also known in English as is an island in the Amami archipelago of the southern Satsunan Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of approximately 27,000. The island is divided into three administrative t ...

in 1988.

Books of Inoue's works

* ''Inoue Seiryū Shashinshū Kamagasaki'' () / ''Seiryū Inoue Photography Book: Kamagasaki'' Ginga Shobo, Osaka, 1985. Includes poetry by Kamagasaki resident Higashibuchi Osamu　(). In Japanese. * ''Hysteric One: Inoue Seiryu'' Hysteric Glamour, Tokyo, 2005. * ''Shashinka Inoue Seiryū Kaikoten'' () / ''Retrospective Exhibition of Seiryū Inoue, Photographer.'' Amagasaki City Sogo Bunka Centre, 2005. In Japanese. This book also contains a detailed biography and several articles in memory of Inoue, including one by

. * ''Inoue Seiryu / Kojima Ichiro'' Rat Hole, Tokyo, 2007.

References

Academic staff of Osaka University of Arts Photography academics Japanese photographers People from Tosa, Kōchi 1931 births 1988 deaths Accidental deaths in Japan {{Japan-photographer-stub