Paper Bird

Maker Hiromu Kira (American, 1898 - 1991)

Collections

American Art Highlights

ClassificationsPHOTOGRAPHS

Date1927

Mediumsilver print

Dimensions10 1/4 x 12 15/16 in. (26 x 32.9 cm.)

SignedSigned in lower right of recto of mount: H. Kira, F.R.P.S.

InscribedInscribed in lower left of recto of mount: Paper Bird Inscribed in upper left of recto of mount: L Inscribed on verso of mount in graphite: Paper Bird Hiromu Kira F.R.P.S. 256 E. First St. Los Angeles, Calif. Inscribed on verso of mount in blue and black crayon: 209. 49 C

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextPhotographer Hiromu Kira (1898-1991) was born in Hawaii, educated in Japan, and in 1916 settled in the Pacific Northwest. He was a founding member of the Seattle Camera Club and part of the artistic community of Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo in the 1920s and 30s.

With its sharp focus, high detail, and emphasis on form and geometry, Paper Bird reflects the artist’s modernist approach, developed after moving to Los Angeles in 1926, through dialogue with Edward Weston, Margaret Mather, and other local and international photographers. Kira wrote in a 1928 Camera Craft issue of making the print:

“One day I saw a girl folding Paper Cranes. I was much attracted by the unusual form of the lines, and decided to work at it. But it was not a trifling matter to learn in what arrangement this subject should be handled… after about a week’s restless effort, came a simple idea to mind. That was to use three differently toned cardboards. A large cardboard was placed on the floor and two smaller ones on top of it… and the little paper bird was set on lastly. I set the camera facing downward and proceeded.”

Status

Not on view

Object number86.30.4