Meiji and Taisho Era photography exhibit "Meeting Modernity" taking place in Los Angeles

by Chris MaGee

A couple of weeks ago I ran a "Just for Fun" story about the 19th-century photographer Felice Beato and his work documenting Japan just before the Meiji Restoration. Well, I wanted to follow up that story with news of an exhibition of Meiji and Taisho era photographs titled "Meeting Modernity" that is taking place at the Young Art Gallery in Los Angeles between September 13th and October 4th. The exhibit, curated by the folks behind the great website Neojaponisme is made up of a series of photographs that were recently unearthed just outside the city of Sano in Tochigi Prefecture north of Tokyo. There are some truly stunning images here, so if you have a minute head over to the Young Art Gallery's website to take a look, and of course if you're in the Los Angeles area (I know we have some readers in L.A.) then by all means head out to check this exhibit out in person.