When this photograph was taken, Emperor Meiji was also portrayed in Heian-period courtly dress in a pendant portrait. The ubiquitous images of the empress in European-style dress were not issued until after 1890. Despite her archaic dress in this image, her long hair, simple eyebrows, and unblackened teeth are all representative of the new, modern models of feminine style encouraged (even enforced) during the Meiji period. Uchida, primarily known for his landscape photos, studied Rangaku (Dutch studies, a field comprising Western science) at the Dutch Medical School in Nagasaki and opened studios in Kobe, Osaka, Yokohama, and, in 1870, Tokyo.