Ansel Adams, People Walking, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.
Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams
October 8, 2015–February 21, 2016
This is a past exhibition
This exhibition was on view at the Skirball
October 8, 2015–February 21, 2016
About the Exhibition
Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams presented a lesser-known dimension of celebrated photographer Ansel Adams’s body of work, and offered insight into a decisive and disquieting period in American history. Presented at the Skirball in association with the Japanese American National Museum, the exhibition featured fifty photographs by Adams of the Japanese American incarceration camp in Manzanar, California, during World War II. These photographs were the subject of Adams’s controversial book Born Free and Equal, published in 1944 while war was still being waged. The book protested the treatment of these American citizens and what Adams called their “enforced exodus.” Powerful forms of civic and artistic expression, the images spoke to the Skirball’s mission of confronting injustice, embracing diversity, and preserving community. Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams was curated by Robert Flynn Johnson, Curator Emeritus, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and organized by Photographic Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.
In addition to Adams’s work, the Skirball’s presentation of the exhibition included other photographs, documents, publications, artifacts, and works of art that detailed life and conditions at Manzanar and offered personal narratives of the experience. A range of propaganda posters, films, pamphlets, and magazines portrayed the anger, prejudice, and overt racism of the times. Additional material from Adams’s contemporaries, Dorothea Lange and Toyo Miyatake, were highlighted.
Image Gallery
Ansel Adams, Aiko Hamaguchi, Nurse, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Baseball, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Benji Iguchi with tractor, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Birds on Wire, Evening, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Entrance to Manzanar, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Manzanar from Guard Tower, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Manzanar Street Scene, Spring, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Mess Line, Spring, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Monument in Cemetery, Mt. Williamson, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions
Ansel Adams, People Walking, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Pictures on Top of Phonograph, Yonemitsu home, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Pleasure Garden of Moon, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Potato Field, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Poultry Farm, Mori Nakashima, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Roy Takeno, outside Free Press Office, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, School Children, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Ansel Adams, Toyo Miyatake, Photographer, 1943. Gelatin silver print (printed 1984). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Dorothea Lange, Following evacuation orders, this store at 13th and Franklin Street, was closed…, 1942. Gelatin silver print (printed later). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions.
Dorothea Lange, Young evacuees of Japanese ancestry wait their turn for baggage inspection, Turlock, CA, 1942. Gelatin silver print (printed later). Private collection; courtesy of Photographic Traveling Exhibitions
Toyo Miyatake, Boys Behind Barbed Wire (Norito Takamoto, Albert Masaichi, and Hisashi Sansui), 1944. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Alan Miyatake, Toyo Miyatake Manzanar Collection.
Toyo Miyatake, Manzanar Grammar School Fire Drill, 1942-1945. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Alan Miyatake, Toyo Miyatake Manzanar Collection.
Toyo Miyatake, Vegetable Delivery at the Camp Mess Hall, 1944. Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of Alan Miyatake, Toyo Miyatake Manzanar Collection.
George T. Ishizuka, Santa Anita Racetrack as Assembly Center, ca. 1942. Courtesy of the Japanese American National Museum.
Citizen’s Indefinite Leave Pass for Claire Ayako Harada, September 8, 1944. Courtesy of the County of Inyo, Eastern California Museum.
Manzanar High School Senior Prom Program. Courtesy of the County of Inyo, Eastern California Museum.
In the News
Photos: 3 Very Different Views Of Japanese Internment
National Public Radio | February 17, 2016
Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams at Skirball
The International Examiner | January 26, 2016
Journey to Manzanar
SkirBlog | December 30, 2015
An Honorable Legacy—On View along the Streets of Los Angeles
SkirBlog | December 22, 2015
Ansel Adams Captures the Struggle and Beauty of a Japanese-American Internment Camp
Zócalo Public Square | December 2, 2015
Manzanar The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams
Examiner.com | November 8, 2015
SoCal Japan
UTB | November 7, 2015
Exhibit | Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams
Crave Online | November 5, 2015
Ansel Adams, World War II, Manzanar
KCRW’s Art Talk | November 3, 2015
Ansel Adams, World War II, Manzanar
The Huffington Post | November 3, 2015
My Pilgrimage to Manzanar
SkirBlog | October 28, 2015
Ansel Adams' Manzanar photos are in town
LA Observed | October 13, 2015
Skirball Cultural Center shows a different Ansel Adams with ‘Manzanar’ exhibit
Daily News | October 9, 2015
Datebook: Modern California landscapes, Giant Robot Biennale, Ansel Adams at Manzanar
Los Angeles Times | October 9, 2015
Ansel Adams’ Manzanar Photos on Display at Skirball Cultural Center
ABC7’s Eyewitness News | October 8, 2015
Ansel Adams’ Manzanar photographs come to Skirball
Jewish Journal | October 8, 2015
Skirball Center’s exhibit on Japanese internment goes beyond Ansel Adams photos
KPCC’s Off-Ramp | October 8, 2015
Skirball Center opening exhibition of Manzanar photographs by Ansel Adams & Toyo Miyatake
Cultural News | October 8, 2015
Ansel Adams’s Lost Internment Camp Photos
The Daily Beast | October 7, 2015
Manzanar and Internment Life in Ansel Adams, Miné Okubo Works at Skirball
Guardian Liberty Voice | October 7, 2015
Miné Okubo’s Artwork, Ansel Adams’ Photographs at Skirball
The Rafu Shimpo | October 7, 2015
Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams Opens Oct. 8 at LA's Skirball
ArtfixDaily | October 6, 2015
Inside America's forgotten war camps: Rare photos show everyday life of the thousands of Japanese Americans locked up in internment camps on U.S. soil 70 years ago
Daily Mail | Septmeber 19, 2015
Ansel Adams’ Rare Photos of Everyday Life in a Japanese Internment Camp
Slate | September 15, 2015
How the Photography of Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams Told the Story of Japanese American Internment
Hyperallergic | September 1, 2015
Donor Support
MANZANAR: THE WARTIME PHOTOGRAPHS OF ANSEL ADAMS AND ITS RELATED PROGRAMS AT THE SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER WERE MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY SUPPORT FROM:
Associates from The Capital Group
The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation
Specialty Family Foundation
Lannette and Scott Turicchi
