Gary Y. Okihiro

I started this book with considerable excitement and, while it was good, it was not nearly as powerful as I had anticipated, and not because of the text. The first 80 pages is an abbreviated history of Dorothea Lange and her photography that contains interesting information about her extensive photography of the Great Depression that made her famous: It also sets the scene for the racist policies leading to Japanese Americans being placed in concentration camps for the duration of the war. Although Lange was working for the U.S. Government, specifically hired to document the internment process, her revealing images were impounded, not seeing the light of day for decades afterwards. This result in this photography to be lesser known even at the time she was doing the work. My chief disappointment lies in the substandard quality of the printing, lessening the impact of the photos chosen for this larger than normal formatted book. Given the importance of the images in a book about photography (!), I am amazed that less attention was paid to the quality of the paper and printing. The scenes/subject matter she photographed were limited because of the strictures under which she worked---some officials fully cognizant of her progressive (and anti-racist) leanings---thus making it difficult for her to accomplish that for which she was paid: documentation of the internment process. Her work does, though, provide a glimpse into a world that has been a stain on Americans’ concepts of equality and fair play. This book is good but, for a variety of reasons extending beyond the images themselves, lacks the power and impact of her other work. This work, although flawed, should serve as a warning to current day Americans who want to intern or otherwise segregate other Americans because of their race, religion, or national origin.… (meer)