Terushichi Hirai

Terushichi Hirai (平井 輝七) was one of the most prominent Japanese photographers in the first half of the 20th century in Japan.

As an amateur photographer, he was very energetic in photography groups, such as Naniwa Photography Club (浪華写真倶楽部, Naniwa Shashin Kurabu) and Tampei Photography Club.

In 1937, he founded Avant-Garde Image Group (Avant-Garde Zoei Shūdan, アヴァンギャルド造影集団) with Gingo Hanawa (1894–1957, 花和銀吾), Yoshio Tarui and Kōrō Honjō.

He was good at extremely imaginative, illusionary and surrealistic photography, perfectly using photomontages and color painting on prints. His works such as "Fantasies of the Moon" (月の夢想, 1938), "Mode" (1938, モード, Mōdo) and "Life" (1938, 生命, Seimei) are unique and among the most important works for the history of Japanese photography before World War II.