Can Tamura (Japanese: カン・タムラ; also known as John Wells) is an American artist, filmmaker and multimodal anthropologist based in Kanazawa, Japan.
[1][2] He earned his BA in film at Antioch College (USA), attending from 1988 to 1993 before moving to Japan in 1993.
[5] He earned his MA in Visual Anthropology, Media and Documentary Practices at the University of Münster (Germany).
[1][2] Working primarily in Japan, Turkey, and Mongolia, he makes experimental documentary films that explore the intersection between ethnographic film and contemporary art.
[1][2] Works include: Tamura has also worked a cinematographer and editor of video artworks by other artists including: Tamura writes anthropological papers on vernacular photography in Japan,[3] Suzu ware, sensory ethnography, and social memory/cultural memory.