Frank A. Kunishige Collection Project

The Tateuchi Foundation has provided $15,400 for a two-year project focused on providing better housing, preservation, and conservation for the photograph collection of Frank A. Kunishige, thus improving user accessibility. The project also involves processing the collection and creating a collection guide for online discovery and use.

Born June 5, 1878 at Agenosho, Oshima-gun, Yamaguchi, Japan, Kunishige immigrated to the United States in 1896. After graduating from the Illinois College of Photography, he moved to San Francisco, then settled in Seattle in 1917, where he worked in photography studios. During World War II, Kunishige was forced to evacuate to an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho. He died in 1960.

Kunishige’s landscape and architectural photographs are especially in demand among scholars and the community. As a charter member of the Seattle Camera Club, he became well-known for his “technical ability to capture a mood of delicacy using subtle gradations of tonality.” He manufactured his own translucent paper, Textura Tissue, which was integral to his distinctive poetic style. Kunishige’s photograph collection consists of more than 500 images.

Please contact us for more information.

“There are few efforts more important than preserving UW’s internationally significant collections while simultaneously helping educate and prepare students to be responsible global citizens.”

-Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson, Vice Provost of Digital Collections and Dean of University Libraries

Property of Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries. PH Coll 343. Source.UW Special Collections