Frank S. Matsura

Iconoclast Photographer of the American West
A captivating collection of Native American portraiture by early 20th-century Japanese photographer Frank S. Matsura frames the rarely told story of his work and unique personal life.
A captivating collection of Native American portraiture by early 20th-century Japanese photographer Frank S. Matsura frames the rarely told story of his work and unique personal life.

Frank S. Matsura (1873-1913) was an immigrant photographer, a local hero, a charismatic original, an enigma, and a man of the community whose legacy has grown over time. Today, historians are still compiling the details of Frank’s unconventional life, and his identity and images are enjoying a revival. An expansion of academic scholarship, documentaries, exhibitions, and regional historical interests, particularly regarding his Native American portraiture, has resulted in a more vivid understanding of the man and his work:

• Matsura’s photographs of local tribal members reveal an honesty and empathy, a counterpoint to the contrived or nostalgic seen in his contemporaries’ images from the same period.
• His oeuvre of just ten years (due to his unexpected passing from tuberculosis) documents everyday local events and the cacophony of characters who visited his studio for dime portraits.
• There are parallels to be found between Matsura’s work and today’s society in attempts to rise above anti-Asian bias, the continued pursuit of cultural agency, and a desire to individually define what America can and should be.

Along with beautifully reproduced black-and-white photographs, the book features narratives from five scholars who give life and context to Matsura’s work, celebrating his captivating photography as a look into immigrant artists, American identity, and the history of a fluid and multicultured exceptionalism.

Contributor: Michael Holloman (Edited by)

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