People
- Individuals
Teijiro Kamiyama神山貞次郎
Teijiro Kamiyama began taking performance photographs after meeting Akira Kasai in 1973, and is now known for the numerous photographs he took of 1st-3rd generation butoh dancers. In 1980 he saw Kazuo Ohno perform at the World Theatre Festival in Nancy, France, where he decided to dedicate his life to photographing butoh. While in Nancy, he captured some rare moments of Kazuo Ohno performing ‘An Invitation To Jesus’ in a church, and dancing along a canal while being filmed by director Werner Schroeter. After a sudden death in 2013, a collection of his photographs titled ‘I Love BUTOH!’ were published posthumously the following year, telling the history of butoh through Kamiyama’s eyes.
Basic Information
- ID
- PER11
- Born
- 1948 Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan
- Died
- 25 December 2013 Tokyo, Japan
- Profession(s)
- Photographer
- Nationality
- Japanese
Short Biography
1948 Born in Hanamaki, Iwate on 1st February
1951 Moved to Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, where he stayed until graduating from high school
1966 Entered the Tokyo College of Photography
1967-72 Worked as a photojournalist for Santelephoto Ltd
1973 Met Akira Kasai during Tenshikan’s performance of ‘The Seven Seals’, and begins taking performance photographs of butoh dancers
1977 First issue of ‘Photo Trial’ (edited by Teijiro Kamiyama, published by Kenichi Arakawa)
1979 Co-launched Shashin Shiron (editoral members: Humito Adati, Kenichi Arakawa, Teijiro Kamiyama)
1980 Covered Kazuo Ohno and Akira Kasai at the World Theatre Festival in Nancy, France
1987 Planned and produced the ‘Mushi-biraki’ festival in commemoration of Tatsumi Hijikata
1988-2002 Worked on lighting, sound and as art director at the Shogun club in Roppongi (Tokyo)
1998-2005 Began designing stage lighting and designing flyers for butoh performances around this time
2013 Passed away, aged 65.