A Letter from Japan: The Photographs of John Swope

by Carolyn Peter, UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art (Other Contributor)

Book by Peter, Carolyn

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lachlan Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

On 28 August 1945 John Swope-a photographer with the Commander In Chief Pacific-sailed into Sagami aboards the USS Hawkins. Swope, with his Rolleiflex, was to photograph the liberation of the POW camps near Tokyo. He then went on to travel and photograph the soldiers who had been imprisoned and also the Japanese soldiers. His moral compass then turned to the citizens of Arai, Nagoya, Shiogama and other sites. The black and white photos show a depressed and worn people on both sides. HI shots also help to show that the Japanese were neither war-like or heinous, rather he found "a docile, peaceful-looking poor" people with "little or no modernization outside of the big cities and factories". The book also shows Swope's photos from Hollywood with actors such as Henry Fonda and Joan Crawford during their leisure time. It's a wonderful reminder of the resilience and brightness of people in the most trying times.