Tomio KondÅ
Tomio KondÅ (è¿‘è—¤ ç¦é›„ KondÅ Tomio, January 24, 1900 – November 15, 1957) was an amateur photographer who lived on and energetically photographed Sado island in the Sea of Japan.[1]
KondÅ was born to a landowning family in Kanazawa village (subsequently part of Kanai, which in turn was amalgamated within "Sado City"). He started with a camera at 18, and also had a keen interest in archaeology. KondÅ photographed landscapes and a great variety of life on the island, as well as the figures from literary and artistic circles on the mainland who came to visit during the infancy of Sado's tourism industry. He financed this by gradually selling off land owned by the family.
KondÅ was keen to keep up with the latest news on the island. He helped set up the Sado museum (ä½æ¸¡åšç‰©é¤¨, Sado Hakubutsukan), of which he became a trustee, and organizations devoted to mountain walking and botany.
KondÅ left a collection of about 8,840 plates on his death. These were bought by the bus company Niigata KÅtsÅ« (新潟交通), which presented them to the Sado museum, but they were little known until 1979, when they were seen by Haruo Tomiyama (himself a notable photographer of Sado) and others. Four years later they became an Asahi Camera cover story, and thanks to the effort of Tomiyama and others they have been exhibited in Sado and anthologized in two books. The photographs then had some exposure in the general-interest media; for example, the 17 August 1995 issue of the magazine Serai (サライ, Sarai) had a six-page feature on them.
Sado City has recently started a photography contest in KondÅ's honour.
Books of KondÅ's works
- Sado (ä½æ¸¡). Iwanami Shashin Bunko 73. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1952. KondÅ is listed as one of two individual photographers[2] who photographed the content with three organizations.(Japanese)
- Sado mangekyÅ (ä½æ¸¡ä¸‡è¯é¡), ed. Haruo Tomiyama. Matsumoto: KyÅdo Shuppansha (郷土出版社), 1994. ISBN 4-87663-264-2. A generous anthology of KondÅ's work, showing family life, farming, tourism, new technology, popular spectacles, and much else. (Japanese)[3]
- Sado shashinchÅ (ä½æ¸¡å†™çœŸå¸–), ed. Hisao KondÅ (è¿‘è—¤ 寿雄) and KinzÅ Isobe (磯部 欣三). Matsumoto: KyÅdo Shuppansha (郷土出版社), 2000. ISBN 4-87663-489-0. (Japanese)
Notes
- ↑ KondÅ's given name of Tomio is written with characters (ç¦é›„) whose far more obvious reading is "Fukuo". The reading of this name is often given (e.g. in the OPAC of Tokyo Municipal Library) as "Fukuo"; however, Nihon no shashinka, Nihon shashinka jiten, the December 1983 Asahi Camera cover story and the flyer advertising the KondÅ Tomio award all have "Tomio".
- ↑ The other is å°ç”°æœ«å‰, the reading of whose name is unknown.
- ↑ Bibliographically this book is a little problematic: the colophon says è¿‘è—¤ç¦é›„写真集1917~1945ä½æ¸¡ä¸‡è¯é¡ whereas the title page says ガラス乾æ¿å†™çœŸé›† / ä½æ¸¡ä¸‡è¯é¡ / Sado Island / 1917~1945. But it's clear that ä½æ¸¡ä¸‡è¯é¡ is meant as the main title.
References
- (Japanese) Nihon no shashinka (日本ã®å†™çœŸå®¶) / Biographic Dictionary of Japanese Photography. Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, 2005. ISBN 4-8169-1948-1. Despite the English-language alternative title, all in Japanese.
- (Japanese) Nihon shashinka jiten (日本写真家事典) / 328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers. Kyoto: TankÅsha, 2000. ISBN 4-473-01750-8.
- (Japanese) "Sado 1918–1949" (ä½æ¸¡1918~1949). Asahi Camera, December 1983. Pp. 15–46. A collection of KondÅ's works.
- (Japanese) ShashinshÅ« o yomu: Besuto 338 kanzen gaido (写真集をèªã‚€ï¼šãƒ™ã‚¹ãƒˆ338完全ガイド, Reading photobooks: A complete guide to the best 338). Tokyo: MetarÅgu, 1997. ISBN 4-8398-2010-4. Sado mangekyÅ is written up.
External links
- (Japanese) Tomiyama Haruo no Sadogashima at the Wayback Machine (archived August 14, 2007): the lower third or so of this page is devoted to the works of KondÅ; there are clickable thumbnails of four of his works.
- (Japanese) Dai-go-kai Sado-kuni BiennÄre KondÅ-Tomio-shÅ Shashin Kontesuto: a Sado City page that invites submissions for the KondÅ Tomio award.