The Dr. Ikkaku Ochi Collection: Medical Photography from Japan around 1900

摘要

Holding the Dr. Ikkaku Ochi Collection feels like holding a novel which might be found in an old bookshop. With its understated size and discreet choice of cover illustration it could be a Japanese novel or historical tome. In comparison to the recently reviewed Stiffs, Skulls and Skeletons (Skilton, 2015) that bombards you with the morbid curiosities it holds from the get go, when you open up these pages you uncover something more disturbing than the faqade would have you believe. This delicate book lures you into a false sense of security and therefore the images, although very small and unassuming, are quite unsettling. The book is the publication of a collection of photographs that originated in the Okayama prefecture of Japan and date from around 1895. Found by an art collector and gallery owner in a beautiful wooden storage box, the photographs have remained hidden through changes of owner and homes and even survived the Hiroshima bombing. The box housed the collection of Dr. Ikkaku Ochi who trained in medicine in Okayama and after serving in the Japanese army as a medical officer set up a practice in Hiroshima city.