Osamu Shiihara

Osamu Shiihara (椎原治) was a Japanese photographer born on 3 October 1905 in Osaka City.

In 1932, Shiihara entered the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. He studied in the Western Painting department under the tutelage of Takeji Fujishima.

After finishing his studies in 1932, he came back to the Kansai area of Japan and started photography. He established a small photography studio in Nishinomiya city in Hyogo prefecture. It was around this time that he joined the Tampei Photography Club. His commitment to the creation of photography as an art form unique from painting is clear.

He believed that photography and painting should develop independently from each other. In the years that he was active as a photographer, Shiihara painted over 100 of large scenery paintings. In a statement about his father's art, Tamotsu states:Having learnt western painting at the Tokyo Fine arts School, he relied on his artistic sensibility and the techniques that he had obtained there and took pride in them. I think it is due to this that he resolutely challenged both the medium of photography and painting during the years.

He eventually moved to Osaka after the war. He continued photography and in 1953 helped to establish the Spiegel Photographers Association with Tanahashi Shisui. the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum; the J. Paul Getty Museum; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and The Art Institute of Chicago.