YAMAZAWA Eiko

YAMAZAWA Eiko 山沢 栄子 (1899.2.19-1995.7.16) Osaka Pref. Osaka's first woman photographer and pioneering presence in her time.

Her family operated a steel processing factory. Got interested in photography in her teens and obtained a Kodak Box Camera. Attended Tokyo Women's Art College and studied Nihonga Japanese painting.

After graduating, studied English at the Osaka YWCA and also studied Western art and photography. Eight years later, she was on a ship to America at age 27 in 1926 (she was the only woman on the ship). Studied oil painting at the California School of Fine Arts. Also worked as a photographer's assistant in San Francisco at the same time.

Later she went to New York where she learned portraiture at a photo studio.

Returned to Japan in 1929 and worked as a portrait photographer. Two years later, she set up her own studio in Osaka. Photographed noted figures like KIKUCHI Kan and SATO Haruo. In 1952, she established a commercial photo studio. In the 1960s, she got into abstract photography. She thus shifted from taking photos to making photos. Died of old age.