T Enami

T Enami, or Enami Nobukuni, created 2-D photography that is similar to gifs prior to 1926! Amazingly his remarkable 2-D collection has only been recently found. Prior his name was virtually unknown. Enami's photographs document Japan during the Meiji and Taisho periods (1826-1926) and are beautifully hand-painted and stereogrammed. Stereograms are two nearly-identical 2D images taken from slightly different angles that, when viewed together through a stereograph, appear three-dimensional.





"Despite his monumental contributions to early Japanese photography, T. Enami’s identity was not widely known outside of Japan until around 2006, when his descendants shared information about him with biographers and collectors. He was the only photographer of his era known to work in all contemporary commercial and artistic formats, and it can be said that his work has been seen by more people than that of the more established “masters” of his time." via weburbanist