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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.

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