Ansel Adams is primarily known for his large black and white landscapes, but in 1942 he visited the Manzanar War Relocation Center, photographing the “life and spirit” of the people living there. Manzanar was one of ten internment camps for Japanese-Americans, run by the US government, and over 11,000 Americans were incarcerated there during the war. Adams would later combine these photographs into a book, called Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese-Americans. The photographs below, and in the book, speak to small living spaces and standing in line for the mess hall, but also to the complexities and make-do spirit of this community which had an orphanage, a newspaper, and a hospital. In the introduction to “Born Free and Equal”, Adams summarizes his impressions:
“Out of the jostling, dusty confusion of the first bleak days in raw barracks they have modulated to a democratic internal society and a praiseworthy personal adjustment to conditions beyond their control. The huge vistas and stern realities of sun and wind and space symbolize the immensity and opportunity of America–perhaps a vital reassurance following the experiences of forced exodus.”
All of Adams’ photographs from Manzanar can be found at the Library of Congress, and the complete text of “Born Free and Equal” can be found here.
Entrance to Manzanar
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Izuno and children
Mrs. Naguchi and two children
High school recess period
School children
Science lecture
Children at Sunday school class
Michael Yonemetsu, [i.e., Yonemitsu] x-ray technician, and Harry Sumida in x-ray room
Nurse Aiko Hamaguchi, mother Frances Yokoyama, baby Fukomoto
Tojo Miatake [i.e., Tōyō Miyatake] Family
Orphanage (with nurse)
Mrs. Teruko Kiyomura
Calesthenics
Fumiko Hirata and Mr. Matsumoto
Manzanar museum (Ansel Adams exhibit)
Choir with director Louie Frizzell
Roy Takeno, editor, and group reading paper in front of office
Poultry farm, Mori Nakashima
Vollyball
Bridge game, Nurse Hamaguchi and friends
Farm, farm workers, Mt. Williamson in background
Monument in cemetery
Mess line, noon
Roy Takeno’s desk
Loading bus, leaving Manzanar for relocation
Tojo Miatake [i.e. Tōyō Miyatake] Family
Mrs. Nakamura and 2 daughters (Joyce Yuki and Louise Tami)
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Shimizu
Butcher shop, (J.S. Yonai)
Hidemi Tayenaka, wood worker
Richard Kobayashi, farmer with cabbages
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