Background
Frank Asakichi Kunishige was born in 1878 in Japan.
Frank Asakichi Kunishige was born in 1878 in Japan.
Frank graduated from the school of photography in Illinois, the United States in 1911.
In 1896 Kunishige arrived in San Francisco, California, and opened a studio there around 1912. He moved to Seattle, working for the Ella McBride Studio in 1917 and freelancing, which he did for most of his remaining years. In 1941 he moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, working in a studio there. He was interned during World War II and returned to Seattle after the war. He also taught photography.
Kunishige developed a printing-out paper manufactured and sold under the trade name Textura Tissue, a softly textured, warm-tone paper. He was the recipient of many awards and prizes. Never fully revealing the body, his images touched gently on the erotic. "He had a keen sense for the formal architectural elements in which the figure was contained" (Northwest Photography, Mar 1980).
Kunishige was a member of the Seattle Buddhist Church, the Bocho Club, and the Seattle Camera Club.