June 17th – September 13th, 2026
In commemoration of the second printing of the seminal 2011 publication Shadows of a Fleeting World: Pictorial Photography and the Seattle Camera Club, Cascadia Art Museum presents an accompanying exhibition to celebrate the new edition in cooperation with the University of Washington Press. As the main author, Cascadia Art Museum’s curator, David F. Martin has assembled over seventy rare, original photographs from various sources.
The Seattle Camera Club (SCC) was the first internationally known artists group from Washington State. Formed in 1924, the thirty-nine charter members were Issei, first generation Japanese immigrants. The group was celebrated for their excellence in pictorialism, the emerging use of photography as a fine arts medium.
Dr. Kyo Koike (1878-1947), co-founder and driving force behind the organization, wrote a national introduction to the SCC that was published in Photo-Era Magazine in 1925: “We waited patiently for a long time, thinking that some Americans might organize a society for the friends of photography, but no light appeared on the dark sea. At last, we Japanese determined to establish one by ourselves, and the result is the Seattle Camera Club. I cannot anticipate what the future of our organization will be; that is a puzzle which time will solve.…The purpose of the SCC is to promote, foster and advance by every honorable means, Photographic Art”.
Besides Dr. Koike, some key members of the SCC included Virna Haffer (1899-1974), Hiromu Kira (1898–1991), Frank Asakichi Kunishige (1878–1960) Yukio Morinaga (1888–1968), and Ella E. McBride (1862-1965).
During its heyday, SCC members were among the most exhibited pictorialist photographers in the world. The organization came to an end in 1930 when the economic crash that initiated the Great Depression took its toll on the membership. Further hardships arose in 1942, when Executive Order 9066 directed that all people of Japanese origin on the West Coast be remanded to detention centers and eventually to concentration camps, where many remained throughout the war years. The devastating effects that this had on Issei SCC members not only affected their lives, but caused the loss of most of their art.
Thanks to the 2011 publication of Shadows of a Fleeting World and the continuing advocacy of a small group of photographic art historians, members of the SCC are once again acknowledged as some of the leading photographers in the United States during their lifetime.
Image Credits:
- Yukio Morinaga (1888-1968), Morning, circa 1925. Bromide print. Private Collection.
- Frank Asakichi Kunishige (1878-1960), Bettl, circa 1924. Chloride print. Private Collection.
- Hiromu Kira (1898-1991), A Workman, circa 1930. Gelatin silver print. Dennis Reed and Amy Reed Collection.