Elusive Truth:
Four Photographers at Manzanar
Ansel Adams, Clem Albers,
Dorothea Lange and Toyo Miyatake

by Gerald H. Robinson
Introduction by Archie Miyatake

In 1942 the United States government declared 110,000 American Japanese residents of the U.S. a threat to national security and incarcerated them in eleven relocation camps around the country. This book tells the story of one such camp, Manzanar, located near Lone Pine in the Owens Valley at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

These four reknowned photographers captured Manzanar and its residents at various times throughout its existence, telling the story of Manzanar from four different perspectives. Taken together, they offer a glimpse of the elusive truth of the relocation camps – a cautionary and poignant tale of pain, injustice, and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity and oppression.

While all the photos vividly tell parts of the story, the work of Miyatake carries the greatest resonance and shows the most compassion. A camp resident who had long been a close friend of Edward Weston, he had to smuggle in lenses and film and surreptitiously build a lightproof box to begin his record of camp life because as a camp resident he was not allowed to possess a camera, even though photography had been his trade for over twenty years.

The Revised Second Edition, published January 2008, has greatly improved reproduction of the photos by the four photographers. It also has several text corrections.

112 pages, 10" x 8", cover photo by Ansel Adams, 60 full-size photographs, bibliography, index, endnotes. Published by Carl Mautz Publishing, Revised Second Edition, 2008.
ISBN 1-887694-24-2.     trade paper

Price: $25.00

Also available:

Elusive Truth, cloth edition. ISBN 978-1-887694-23-0

Price: $40.00

Books and Maps on Related Topics:

Arizona Real Photo Postcards by Jeremy Rowe

The Lovely Sea View A Study of the Marine Photographs
Published by Gustave Le Gray, 1856-1858 by Ken Jacobson

William Henry Jackson—An Annotated Bibliography 1862-1995 by Thomas H. Harrell

Ohio Photographers 1839-1900--A History and Directory by Diane VanSkiver Gagel

The Savage View--Charles Savage, Pioneer Mormon Photographer by Bradley W. Richards, M.D.

Dassonville--California Photographer (1879-1957) by Peter Palmquist; Researched and edited by Susan Herzig and Paul Hertzmann

Photographers in Arizona 1850-1920--A History and Directory by Jeremy Rowe

The Remarkable Carlo Gentile—Pioneer Italian Photographer by Cesare Marino

Great Spirit—North American Indian Portraits by Edward McAndrews

The Hiker's hip pocket Guide to Sonoma County, 3rd edition by Bob Lorentzen

Royal Robbins: My Life: Volume One; To Be Brave by climbing legend Royal Robbins
with a Foreword by Steve Roper

Monterey Bay Map by Bluewater Maps

Exploring Eastern Sierra Canyons: Bishop to Lone Pine by Sharon Giacomazzi

California Road Trip; A Climber's Guide Northern California by Tom Slater and Chris Summit

Hiking the California Coastal Trail Volume Two: Monterey to Mexico--The Guide to Walking the Golden State's Beaches and Bluffs from Border to Border by Bob Lorentzen and Richard Nichols

California Trip by by Richard P. Blair & Kathleen P. Goodwin

Hiking the California Coastal Trail--The Complete Set by Bob Lorentzen and Richard Nichols

Walk the Sky; Following the John Muir Trail by Photography by John Dittli, Essays by Mark Schlenz

The Mendocino Coast Glove Box Guide, 3rd Edition--Lodgings, Eateries, Sights, History, Activities and More by Bob Lorentzen

Muir Ramble Route by Peter Thomas and Donna Thomas

Shakespeare Playing Cards by Prospero Art

Bluewater Gold Rush; The Odyssey of a California Sea Urchin Diver by Tom Kendrick

Pomegranate Roads; A Soviet Botanist's Exile from Eden by Gregory M. Levin, translated by Margaret Hopstein