Gila River, Canal Camp, Japanese-American Concentration Camp, Arizona, March 25, 1995 / GRC-4-18-24 (from the series Japanese-American Concentration Camps)
Artist
Patrick Nagatani
(American, 1945 - 2017)
DateMarch 25, 1995
Mediumchromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 10 × 12 in. (25.4 × 30.5 cm)
Support: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
Support: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Patrick Nagatani, 2017
Object number2017.12.62
DescriptionDesert landscape with the remains of an irregular-shaped concrete foundation seen at an angle, diagonally taking up composition from lower right to lower center. Inside and atop the ruins are large, rounded stones. Left side of the composition is a large section of deteriorating concrete. Green scrub and trees are visible at right edge and across horizon line. The background features a blue sky with a glimpse of the top of a mountain range and a prominent cloud at the far right.eMuseum Notes
Typically known for his photographic narratives and colorful
constructed imagery, Patrick Nagatani shifts to a more documentary style in his
series “Japanese-American Concentration Camps.” In the early 1990s, the artist
traveled to and photographed the sites of ten inland camps created by the U.S.
government during World War II to forcibly detain citizens of Japanese descent.
Families across the nation were required to leave their homes, Businesses,
land, and property to live in these isolated camps under challenging
conditions. Among them were Nagatani’s parents, who were both incarcerated as
young adults, his mother at Manzanar and his father at Jerome; his maternal
grandfather was separated from his family and held at the Justice Department
Internment Camp in Santa Fe. Nagatani’s parents later met married in Chicago
and, like many prisoners of war, did not discuss their incarceration with their
children. The artist and his siblings grew into adulthood knowing very little
of their parents’ experiences. This photographic series was his way to explore
and claim that family history.
On View
Not on view
