In the light of the rising sun

After more than two centuries of isolation, Japan opened its ports to trade with the outside world in 1859. The country rapidly transformed from a feudal state into a modern empire.

As a Dutch diplomat in Japan, Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek witnessed these major upheavals firsthand.
The photographs he collected during his stay are among the oldest of Japan in the world. Without taking photographs himself, De Graeff played a role in the creation of these early images. Inadvertently, he helped shape Western perceptions of Japan. The land of the rising sun had opened its gates to the eye of the camera.
In the Light of the Rising Sun – Japan in the Photo Albums of Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, 1857-1869 is the second publication in a series of notebooks from the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.