Japanese - English

Japanese Photographer

There is no known image of the man

The following images are courtesy of Lord Meher ; Bhau Kalchuri - pages 1379, 1441, 1443, 1444, 1452 and 1461.

Negatives are owned by Martin Cook, who purchased them from Imai's widow.

Meher Baba was taken by his English followers to Kinye Imai's Studio at  83 Ebury Street London W1 on Wednesday the 30th September 1931 where he was photographed. 6 portraits were taken in black & white. All images colourized by Anthony Zois.

Lord Meher Volume 4, Page 1442

Lord Meher Online Edition Page 1283

83 EBURY STREET LONDON W1

Property images courtesy of Google's "street view"

July 18, 1956 : London

The same evening at 8 P.M., another reception for the public was held at the Rubens Hotel, and almost one hundred seventy-five people attended. Among the crowd included Kathleen Pritchard, Mollie and Douglas Eve, Stephanie Haggard, the Lawtons, Mr. and Mrs. Imai (the Japanese photographer who had taken Baba's portraits in 1931), and several friends of Irene Conybeare. Each person was allowed half a minute to meet Baba and receive prasad. Tom Hopkinson brought each person to Baba. Will and Delia were seated on either side of him. Baba looked resplendent seated on a purple satin-covered settee with velvet cushions, purple hangings in the background and a huge canopy of flowers on either side arranged by Dorothy Hopkinson. Baba looked absolutely regal and glowing the whole evening. Refreshments of tea, cakes and sandwiches were served and again entertainment was performed.

The following are artworks inspired by the photographs taken by Kinye Imai.

The American artist Charles Mills painted 3 of the portraits.

http://www.millsstudio.com

1.

The American artist Gregg Rosen also painted from these photographs

http://www.greggfineart.com/

The American artist David Jermann also painted from these photographs

The Australian artist Trisha Migdoll also painted from these photographs

The American artist David Barison also painted from these photographs.

The Indian artist  Naresh Kanigiri also painted from these photographs.

The American artist  Cherie Plumlee also created an artwork from these photographs.

The American artist  Lyn Ott also painted from these photographs.

Assorted Artists

The Australian artist Claire Mataira also painted from these photographs

Imai Studio London Telephone listings

1927 - 1934 = 32 Ebury Street, SW1
1935 - 1939 = 65 Ebury Street, SW1
1940 - 1949 = 3 Kensington High Street,  W8
1950 - 1951 = 3 Kensington High Street, W8 ( 2 entries those years) + 307 Royal Palace Hotel, W8
1952 - 1963 =  3 Kensington High Street,  W8
gap
1966 - 1968 =  3 Kensington High Street,  W8
1973 - last entry K. Imai Photog. 3 Kensington High Street.

All the above listings are courtesy of Paul Edwards