Ansel Adams: Capturing Humanity Amidst Injustice - Images of Manzanar
Entrance to Mazanar 1943, Ansel Adams, Library of Congress
“We live in the world... the whole world. Separating us, isolating us, that’s always been their weapon. Isolation kills generations.
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Renowned for his stunning nature imagery of the expansive American West, Ansel Adams photographed the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the fall of 1943. He produced arguably some of his most controversial and personal work, documenting the everyday lives of his fellow American citizens trying to cope with an injustice perpetrated by their government.
Poster issued by the Wartime Civil Control Administration calling for the evacuation and relocation of indivdus of Japanese ancestry 1942
After Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, America simmered with racial animosity, mistrust, and fear of Japanese Americans. In this environment, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in 1942. It authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers'' further inland. Over 100,000 Japanese Americans were removed from their homes and livelihoods and placed in 10 concentration camps around the country.
Adams' interest in the plight of Japanese Americans was personal. Henry Oye, a longtime employee of his parents and a Japanese immigrant was in ill health prior to Order 9066. However, this did not stop government authorities from arbitrarily seizing him and transporting him to a hospital in Missouri. Angered by this event, Adams welcomed any opportunity to portray his fellow citizens in a sympathetic light.
This opportunity came when he was invited to the Manzanar War Relocation Center. The camp sat at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California's Owens Valley. He had a personal connection with the camp through two friends Ralph Meritt, the camp’s director, and Toyo Miyatake, a fellow photographer and camp internee. Although, he received free rein of the camp. His images were subject to government censors. He was not allowed to publish photographs of the obvious signs of a prison (barbed wires, guards, and guard towers) that encircled the camp.
Adams’ photography was a marked departure from his usual imagery. Gone are the majestic awe-inspiring landscapes. He utilized an intimate personal documentary style. His simpler approach focused on humanizing his subjects.
Adams’ portraits are haunting and powerful. His subjects stare directly into the lens forcing the viewer to look into their eyes. Demanding that we see their humanity.
![Roy Takano [i.e., Takeno] at town hall meeting (Ansel Adams) 1943 Library of Congress](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63f058e888b0c5540ae23e03/1715597103438-1DSMPPBSDPJQ3S1OXTWD/Roy+Takano+%5Bi.e.%2C+Takeno%5D+at+town+hall+meeting%2C+Manzanar+Relocation+Center%2C+California.jpg)
Ansel took over 200 images at Manzanar. These images were part of a short-lived exhibition entitled, “Born Free and Equal” at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1945. Despite having favorable reviews from critics, the show faced backlash from members of the public. Still at war, America was too intoxicated with rage and revenge to see the humanity of their fellow citizens. Ansel was labeled unpatriotic and a “Jap lover”.
A companion book also entitled Born Free and Equal showcased images from the Manzanar concentration camp. The book was pulled from the shelves and copies were destroyed.
Dorthea Lange, the famous Depression-era photographer, was a friend of Adams and an outspoken critic of America’s policy of detention camps. She had issues with Ansel’s final work. She believed his work was too staged and sanitized. It failed to reflect the everyday hardships of the interned. His images did not communicate the gravity of what the American government took from them.
Unlike Adams who took pictures of the camp as a private citizen, Lange worked for the Office of War Information. She took more than 800 images of Japanese internment camp detainees. Her pictures were authentic, raw, and emotional, communicating the sense of loss, displacement, and injustice her subjects endured. Unfortunately, the government impounded her photos for the duration of the war. She commented, “They had wanted a record, but not a public record.”
In 1965 Ansel donated his collection of Manzanar photos to the Library of Congress, in a letter he wrote the following:
“The purpose of my work was to show how these people, suffering under a great injustice, and loss of property, businesses and professions, had overcome the sense of defeat and despair [sic] by building for themselves a vital community in an arid (but magnificent) environment…. All in all, I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document, and I trust it can be put to good use.”
Relocation departure II, Manzanar Relocation Center (Ansel Adams) 1943 Library of Congress
Mr. Matsumoto and children at children's garden, Manzanar Relocation Center, California (Ansel Adams) 1943 Library of Congress
Through his photography, Adams sought to raise awareness about the plight of Japanese Americans and he tried to convey their humanity to an unsympathetic public fueled by their biases, prejudices, and rage. He was deeply troubled by the injustice of forcibly relocating and detaining thousands of Americans solely based on their ethnicity(collective punishment). Adams believed strongly in civil liberties and the protection of individual rights. He saw the internment as a violation of these principles and un-American.
The pictures of Manzanar serve as a reminder of the consequences of government overreach, especially during times of crisis. Adams’ images are a testament to what is possible when we fail to see the humanity of others and are driven by groupthink, fears, and prejudices. Sadly, this continues to this day.
