2/16/17 Beato: Places
1.
-Beato is primarily a photography for the money, and what he captures shows this. The scenes he portrays are very touristy and appeal to the people who have never seen Japan and want a quintessential "Japan" photo. These photos are also more popular when the public is showing interest in Japan, so his sales correlate with foreign relations. Without the mass interest in Japan, his photos would have been a bust.
-As one of the only real photographers in Japan at the time of this cultural upheaval, Beato is actually one of the first people in the world to capture these historical events on camera. While this is not significant to the cultural change in Japan, it certainly paved the road for many more foreigners to do the same.
-Since Japan was changing at such a rapid rate, it is quite interesting to see Beato capture these photos right before the world was able to capture everything on camera. While some of the areas he captured are untouched by modern influence, you can also see how significant the changes have become in areas like Yokohama, with all the ships in the bay.
2.

This photo is taken of the Harbor at Nagasaki, and as Beato describes it, it is truly one of the most beautiful ports in the world. From what we can see in the photo, it is mostly untouched by cultural influence, except for the European factory on the opposite side of the bay. Unlike in Yokohama, you don't see massive ships at bay, nor very many English/dutch style homes. In Beato's caption he says of the factory that it was restrictive for workers to not be allowed to learn Japanese and that there was a teacher always present, but this is amusing coming from one a Westerner who is about to force their own culture on Japan.

This photo portrays the moat that surrounds the royal home of the Emperor, and is the former home of the Shoguns. To me, the house on the left seems pretty small for the residence of the emperor, and this is probably because the Emperor has been out of power for many hundreds of years at this point. The moats are an interesting touch, and mostly seem to be for intimidation, because those walls don't look more than 10 feet high. With such a meager presence, i think the size and stature of these buildings do a good job of signifying the current standing of the Emperor.