Ansel Adams - Manzanar

Ansel Adams was best known for his transcendent landscape photography, but he took time out from that pursuit during World War II to visit the Manzanar internment center for Japanese Americans. According to the Wikipedia entry, "Adams was distressed by the Japanese American Internment that occurred after the Pearl Harbor attack. He requested permission to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the Owens Valley, at the foot of Mount Williamson. The resulting photo-essay first appeared in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit, and later was published as Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese-Americans."

Although this is a very different kind of photography than Adams usually practiced, one can easily see that he just couldn't keep the artistry out of it.

This is the first of several sets of Adams' Manzanar photos, all taken in 1943.

 Entrance to Manzanar Relocation Center

Manzanar Relocation Center from tower

 Benji Iguchi with squash, Manzanar Relocation Center

 Birds on wire, evening, Manzanar Relocation Center

 Buddhist service, Manzanar Relocation Center, California

 Burning leaves, autumn dawn, Manzanar Relocation Center, California

 Calisthenics at Manzanar Relocation Center

Calisthenics at Manzanar Relocation Center

 Chicken farm, Mori Nakashima, Manzanar Relocation Center

Dressmaking class, Manzanar Relocation Center, California