Camera Fan
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| Cover of the October 1951 issue of Camera Fan. (Image rights) |
Camera Fan (カメラファン, kamera fan) was a monthly photographic magazine published in Tokyo by Evening Star (イブニングスター社). The first issue was that of October 1950, and it continued at least until its 34th issue, in October 1952.[1]
The January 1951 issue, for example, has CAMERA FAN in roman letters on the front as a subtitle, and on the back explains that it is THE CAMERA FAN, published by the Evening Star Publishing Co., Ltd. A slogan on the front tells the reader that it is the photographic magazine of a million people (百萬人の寫眞雑誌, hyakuman-nin no shashin-zasshi). There's a girl in a kimono and an elaborate hairstyle (appropriate for New Year festivities) on the cover, which also informs us that this comes with a supplement about all domestic-made cameras (sadly missing from the copy examined). The price is ¥85. The magazine has about fifty pages, slim by compared with magazines such as Asahi Camera (even in those lean times), most of which are printed on pulp but also including a section of photogravure on more glossy paper. The material concentrates on pictures of babies, the family, and landscapes: certainly there is nothing very adventurous here, but the material is competent enough, and includes a portrait of the novelist Uno Chiyo (宇野千代), a couple of photographs by Hamaya Hiroshi (浜谷浩), and a contest among readers' photographs judged and with comments by the ubiquitous Kimura Ihee (木村伊兵衛).
