Shigemi Uyeda’s Reflections on the Oil Ditch
Getty Conversations


A conversation with Dr.  Virginia Heckert, Curator, Department of Photographs, Getty Museum, and Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, Dean of Content and Strategy, Smarthistory, at Getty Center in front of Shigemi Uyeda, Reflections on the Oil Ditch, c. 1925. Gelatin silver print, 33.5 x 26.5 cm. Getty Museum, Los Angeles © Family of Shigemi Uyeda

Shigemi Uyeda captured the environment of Los Angeles and the growing popularity of oil production in the early 20th century. He created a composition of hardened oil with water drops to capture the perfect reflection of an oil derrick from the early morning sun.

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Additional resources

Dennis Reed, Making Waves: Japanese American Photography, 1920–1940, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: Japanese American National Museum, 2016).

Cite this page as: Dr. Virginia Heckert and Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, "Shigemi Uyeda’s Reflections on the Oil Ditch
Getty Conversations," in Smarthistory, May 17, 2023, accessed March 19, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/shigemi-uyedas-reflections-on-the-oil-ditchgetty-conversations/.