Last updated on 2026-04-21
My impressions of the “20th Anniversary Exhibition of the Yokohama City Camera and Photography Collection: Mr. Naylor’s Cabinet of Curiosities,” held in February 2026 at the Yokohama Civic Gallery Azamino in Azamino, Tsuzuki Ward, Kanagawa Prefecture.
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Table of contents
Exhibition Overview
- Exhibition Title: “20th Anniversary Exhibition of the Yokohama City Camera and Photography Collection: Mr. Naylor’s Cabinet of Curiosities”
- Dates: January 24 (Sat) – February 22 (Sun), 2026
- Location: Yokohama Civic Gallery Azamino
- Admission: Free
This exhibition explores the history of photography through a thematic classification of cameras and photographs from the Yokohama City collection. A special exhibition, “Nozomi Suzuki,” is being held at the entrance to the exhibition hall.
The Yokohama City camera and photograph collection has grown even larger thanks to a generous donation from Mr. Naylor.
According to information from the web, the Naylor Collection consists of the following:
It is a collection of approximately 12,000 items amassed over about 40 years from around the world by American collector Thurman F. Naylor (1919–2007).
The exhibition is structured as follows:
- Mr. ネイラーとコレクション Mr. Naylor & His Collection
- 写真以前 Pre-Photography
- 初期写真 Early Photography
- 1880年代以降の写真術 Photography from the 1880s
- 映像 Moving Images
- 写真家・写真技術開発者 Photographers and Inventors
- 特殊用途カメラ Specialty Cameras
- 横浜市民ギャラリーあざみ野の取り組み The Yokohama City Camera and Photography Collection at Work
- 修復 Conservation & Restoration
- 展覧会と教育普及事業 Exhibitions and Education
My impression: “A diverse collection of cameras and photographs”
The first room, “Before Photography,” displays exhibits explaining optical instruments used before photographic fixing, such as camera obscuras. Before the development of fixing methods, these projected images were used to create paintings and other works.
The next room, “Early Photography,” showcases works created using the daguerreotype photographic technique, and the world’s first photobook printed using the calotype negative-positive method, “Nature’s Pencil.” The cover of “Nature’s Pencil” on the right in the photo below is a reproduction.
See the quote below for further details.
The world’s first photobook, “The Pencil of Nature,” is being exhibited for the first time in 10 years.
Published in England between 1844 and 1846, “The Pencil of Nature” was written by William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the world’s first negative-positive printing method, “calotype,” to demonstrate the potential of photography, a new medium at the time, and the effectiveness of his own invented photographic technique. This exhibition will display pages from “The Pencil of Nature” while the exhibition period is ongoing.
The museum displays large-scale equipment rarely seen in typical camera museums, such as the bicycle-mounted camera setup shown in the diagram below.
The exhibition “Photography from the 1880s Onward” features many familiar photographic devices. The photo below shows a Canon 7 equipped with a large-aperture Canon 50mm f/0.95 lens. In addition, there are about 200 other interesting cameras and documents on display, including a Barnack Leica, a Leica M3, toy cameras, and spy cameras. The Naylor Collection is said to have 12,000 items, so this is truly only a very small portion of what is on display.
The exhibition featured interesting cameras, including a “special-purpose camera” system for photographing the ground surface from an airplane. Particularly intriguing was the “pigeon camera” shown in the photo below; apparently, the shutter timing was controlled by a timer, making it impractical.
The fact that we can now use drones to view footage in real time, take photos, and continuously record video is technology that people from that era would find unbelievable.
Summary
This exhibition offers a glimpse into Mr. Naylor’s magnificent collection.
With a balanced display of both camera equipment and prints, it’s a substantial exhibition that can be thoroughly enjoyed by those who love both, or even just one of them.
We recommend enjoying it in conjunction with the “Special Exhibition: Nozomi Suzuki” displayed at the entrance.
Reference links
- 20th Anniversary Exhibition: Yokohama City’s Camera and Photograph Collection – Mr. Naylor’s Room of Wonders・Official page
- Yokohama Civic Gallery Azamino – Artist Introduction: Nozomi Suzuki・Official page
- Special Exhibition: Nozomi Suzuki・Shige’s hobby
寄付のお願い・Request for donations
Affiliate links
Photo Equipment
- LEICA T typ701 +C.Z.TESS 35mm F3.5
- SONY DSC-RX1
Update history
- 2026.2.20
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