Native name 田村茂 Name Shigeru Tamura Occupation photojournalist | Nationality Japan Full Name 田村寅重 | |
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Born February 28, 1909 ( 1909-02-28 ) Japan, Sapporo, Hokkaido Died December 16, 1987(1987-12-16) (aged 78) Known for creator of the portrait of Osamu Dazai | ||
For a younger photographer of the same name, see Akihide Tamura.
Shigeru Tamura (田村 茂, Tamura Shigeru, 28 February 1909 – 16 December 1987) was a Japanese photographer notable for his work in fashion and photojournalism.
Tamura was born in Sapporo, Hokkaidō. Shigeru was an assumed name; Tamura's personal name was probably Torashige. He studied photography at the Oriental School of Photography (オリエンタル写真学校, Orientaru Shashin Gakkō); graduating in 1929. With Yoshio Watanabe, in 1935 he set up a studio for advertising and other photography in Ginza, Tokyo. He was highly successful as a fashion photographer, notably in work for the magazine Fujin Gahō from 1937. Together with Ken Domon and others, he set up the Young People's Photojournalism Research Society (Seinen Hōdōshashin Kenkyūkai) in 1938.
Tamura emerged from the war as a photographer of social issues in Japan, approaching them from a pacifist and left-wing angle. He also traveled, producing books on the Arab world and North Vietnam. In 1963 he set up the Japan Realist Photographers Association (Nihon Riarizumu Shashin Shūdan).
In the 1970s Tamura documented the topography and cultural patrimony of Japan. He died in 1987.