Transformation of Expressive and Stylistic Means of the Landscape Genre in the Japanese Photography of the 1900s–1920s

The aim of the article is to define tendencies in the transformation of expressive and stylistic means in the Japanese landscape photography of the specified period, based on the analysis of archives of the Japanese landscape photography of the 1900s–1920s. Results. A stylistic transformation of the landscape genre, as well as a passing from the documentary fixation to expressive artistic solutions during the 1900s, are revealed on the example of Kurokawa Suizan’s works. A stylistic stabilisation of the landscape genre which started acquiring moderate expressiveness in the 1910s is grounded. Implementing small-format cameras in the 1910s is analysed using the example of Makoto Yoshino’s creativity, which has contributed to the compositional means’ expansion. The onset of stylistic shifts in the landscape genre during the 1920s under the influence of Constructivist tendencies is revealed on the example of Okubo Koroku’s practice. Scientific novelty. For the first time in the Ukrainian art history, an analysis of the transformation of expressive and stylistic means in the Japanese landscape photography of the 1900s–1920s is conducted. The European pictorialism assimilation and its synthesis with traditional Japanese painting is traced in the aspect of Kurokawa Suizan’s creativity in the 1900s. Materials concerning the influence of Constructivism on the landscape photography development in the 1920s are applied in the scientific circulation. Conclusions. The transformation of expressive and stylistic means in the Japanese landscape photography during the 1900s–1920s highlights a complex interplay between traditional aesthetics, European artistic influences and technical innovations. The 1900s were marked by the adaptation of the European pictorialist principles and their synthesis with the aesthetic basis of monochrome suiboku-ga painting, which led to the formation of a specific arsenal of expressive means. In the second half of the 1920s, under the influence of the Constructivist movement, active experiments with the compositional organisation of the frame and figurative expression means are observed. So, over the course of the 1900s–1920s, the Japanese landscape photography evolved from documentary fixing into an autonomous artistic direction that synthesised Western and national traditions, gradually securing its place in the Japanese cultural discourse.