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
