Felice Beato
1860s Photo Album
From William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Felice Beato
1832–1909
A multi-national who was born in Italy, assumed English nationality, and worked in Asia and the Near East, Felice Beato was one of the most successful among the first generation of commercial photographers in Japan. This former military photographer arrived in Japan in 1863 and shortly thereafter started his business with his friend, the English illustrator Charles Wirgman. Beato is considered to be the father of Yokohama photography as he established the model for commercial photography in many aspects, including the subject, style and marketing strategy for souvenir pictures.
Beato’s albums typically included detailed captions in English. Guided by both image and text, Western viewers were thus being given a comprehensive narrative about Japanese culture.
