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Ansel Adams: The Manzanar Photographs A n s e l A d a m s (1902-1984) had o n e of the great, productive lives in the h i s t o r y of p h o t o g r a p h y . He is u s u a l l y t h o u g h t of as a landscape photographer, a maker of images that b l e n d e d the c o n t e m p l a t i v e and the d r a m a t i c . A d a m s lived, however, t h r o u g h t u r b u l e n t political times a n d w a s deeply i n v o l v e d in issues that d i d not h a v e a broad support base at t h e t i m e . He a d d r e s s e d e n v i r o n m e n t a l issues t h r o u g h o u t his life a n d w a s instrumental in the creation of the Sierra Club. In February 1 9 4 2 t h e US g o v e r n m e n t , f o l l o w i n g C a n a d a ' s l e a d , i n c a r c e r a t e d its e n t i r e J a p a n e s e - A m e r i c a n p o p u l a t i o n l i v i n g w e s t of t h e M i s s i s s i p p i River. This f o r c e d r e l o c a t i o n of p e o p l e w h o h a d b e e n h a r d - w o r k i n g , patriotic citizens only a f e w m o n t h s earlier, directly a f f e c t e d 115,000 people by depriving t h e m of their rights a n d their possessions, including real e s t a t e a n d businesses. The i n t e r n m e n t c a m p s for the JapaneseA m e r i c a n s w e r e scattered a r o u n d the US west, in A r i z o n a , California, Idaho, N e w M e x i c o a n d C o l o r a d o . C o n d i t i o n s in t h e c a m p s varied w i d e l y , w i t h Tule Lake, C a l i f o r n i a c o n s i d e r e d t o be t h e w o r s t , and Manzanar, the subject of this e x h i b i t i o n , perhaps one of the best. In 2003, at a t i m e w h e n internment, incarceration a n d quarantine are d a i l y news, t h i s e x h i b i t i o n p r o v i d e s a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o reflect o n the nature of f o r c e d s e p a r a t i o n a n d u p r o o t i n g a n d the effects that it has on its victims a n d the c o m m u n i t i e s that are fractured by the uprooting. A d a m s w a s i n c e n s e d by w h a t he h e a r d a b o u t g o v e r n m e n t policy toward Japanese-Americans and set o u t t o photograph life at M a n z a n a r War Relocation Center as objectively as he c o u l d , a n d at his o w n expense. The resulting p h o t o g r a p h s of daily life at the Manzanar c a m p are s t u n n i n g in their d i r e c t n e s s a n d r e m a i n s o m e of the most moving documents of i n t e r n m e n t ever p r o d u c e d . They w e r e first November | Decs