The author is a photograph restorer by profession and lives in France. She has written an article that dwells on both the technical aspects of Japanese photography in their creation and on the methods or restoration of old prints that are getting out of form. The article is a derivation of the text of a paper presented at the Association France Japon-Nord / Japan Society Symposium Les Collections d'Art Japonais en Europe held in Lille between the forth and fifth of October, 1997. She not only elucidates the finer details of the paper used for photography, the methods used to develop the photographs, and the equipment used but she also examines the creativity of the artists and their employees in skillfully adding color to the monochrome photographs. It is clear that she expects her readers to be well versed in the technical aspects of photography (probably including the technicalities of old school photography).

Even though it would be difficult for me to critique her work adequately, due to its high level of technical information (I wouldn't know if she was relaying fact or not), it is relieving that she is able to discuss a bit of history and artistry as regards to the coloration of Japanese photographs and the workings of Felice Beato and his assistants. It is sad that she did not think of trying to broaden her readership base by having a less technical paper, but she probably had just the opposite in mind; to write a paper for the benefit of her colleagues.

Kevin Immonje