Elusive Truth: Four Photographers at Manzanar

by Gerald H. Robinson

In 1942, The United States government declared 110,000 American Japanese residents a threat to national security and incarcerated them in eleven relocation camps around the country. One such camp, Manzanar, was located near Lone Pine in the Owens Valley, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Four photographers — Ansel Adams, Clem Albers, Dorothea Lange, and Toyo Miyatake — photographed Manzanar and its residents at various times throughout its three year existence. Their photographs tell the story of Manzanar from four different perspectives. Taken together, they offer a glimpse of the elusive truth of the relocation camps — a cautionary and poignant tale of pain, injustice, and the triumph of the human spirit. Introduction by Archie Miyatake
Essay by Gerald H. Robinson
Portfolio of Photographs by Ansel Adams, Clem Albers, Dorothea Lange and Toyo Miyatake
111 pages
60 halftone illustrations
Notes, Bibliography, and Index

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, History

112 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate. While the photographs were great, I feel the book was lacking in substance. Rather than stating the facts, the author too often relied on what amounts to his personal opinions. Not only was he repetitive, I found it in poor taste. If you are wondering how many photographs are included in the book they break down as follows: 14 by Adams, 11 by Albers, 11 by Lange, and 23 by Miyatake.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elusive Truth - Four Photographers at Manzanar

The four photographers were Ansel Adams, Clem Albers, Dorothea Lange, and Toyo Miyatake.

Clem Albers and Dorothea Lange were both hired by the WRA to photograph the Japanese Americans as they were being relocated in 1942. Albers photos shows the primitive conditions the inmates were going into as Manzanar was just being built. He shows the people trying to come to understand why this is happening to them. Lange, who was opposed to this relocation of people, came to Manzanar just after the buildings were completed. Her photos were to document all phases of the internment from the assembly center to the camps. The conditions were minimal at best. Most of Langes photos were label 'Impounded' and filed away.

Ansel Adams came to Manzanar about a year after Lange. He was asked to come and photograph Manzanar by the newly appointed camp director Ralph Merritt. Merritt knew Adams as they were friends who both belonged to the Sierra Club. Adams was not paid for his work. Most of his photos were taken at time when people had settled into a manageable life and some were being allowed to go and settle outside of the camps.

Toyo Miyatake was an inmate. He had been a professional photographer before the incarceration. He had smuggled a camera lens into the camp and had a box built for it to take pictures. He wanted to document the life in the camps. After nine months he was found out, but Merritt allowed him to keep working. He was in Manzanar for the entire time of its operation.

There are about 30 pages of photos by these four that give a glimpse into the life of the Japanese American during their incarceration during World War II.

[Deb Oestreicher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compelling selection of photographs by four different photographers who documented the Japanese internee experience at the Manzanar relocation camp in California during the second world war. Excellent accompanying text provides background on the four photographers and the circumstances under which they carried out their projects. Well worth paging through. This is a time in American history that is too often overlooked.