Kusakabe Kimbei

Kusakabe Kimbei - Geisha & Dog, circa 1885

This unposed, snapshot-like image of a geisha taken outdoors is certainly one of the rarest of the genre. She walks in a garden, carrying her kimono in the classic style so as to show her undergarments in an erotic fashion, and is surprised by a dog who jumps up to greet her. No other such image from this early era has been found. This was discovered in an 1880s album by Kusakabe Kimbei.

From Geisha - A Photographic History 1872-1912 by Stanley M. Burns, MD and Elizabeth A. Burns