Abstract

In terms of existing historiography and its significance, Japanese American internment is mostly presented under a narrative of “the failure of a government to control its citizens, to curb their passions, moderate their instincts, and calm their fears ” (Stanley, 1992, p.197). Where does the Born Free and Equal collection, made in the camp of Manzanar in 1943 by renowned photographer Ansel Adams, fit into the wartime discourse over a community of displaced and interned immigrants? Contextualizing the collection, as being an essential part for his photographic essay Born free and equal, photographs of the loyal Japanese-Americans at Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California, as well as a deep analysis of the visual material helps provide the author’s narrative and situate him within a raging debate in wartime American society. This collection includes 245 photographs divided into 4 main categories by subject: portraits, daily life, agricultural scenes, sports, and leisure activities.  In fact, the highly curated images Adams produced strikingly gloss over the pain and injustice of displacement, confirming that the photographer’s lens served a slightly different agenda. This is made clear through reading the text accompanying the photo essay, which portrays the Nisei and other interned groups as American citizens to reinforce their usefulness to the war effort against the Axis powers on the basis of their citizenship, additionally  arguing loudly against their internment through emphasizing their equally American “nature”, consequently minimizing Japanese cultural elements such as dress, language, religion, and pastimes within the visual elements in the photographs, also founded upon the basis of citizenship status.