Library of Congress: Ansel Adams' Manzanar photos
A few weeks ago, the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery came online, offering a vast range of photographs from its various collections free to the public. Bernice Abbot's Changing New York" and Lewis Hine's recording of the Empire State Building's construction are probably the most high-profile series to be made available through this new site.
Sifting through these online galleries is akin to visiting a flea market for the rare quality photograph worth the steep price of $5. The Library of Congress has also put a large helping of its photography collections online, albeit in a much less refined site than the NYPL. Deep in the bowels of their collections are works from the likes of Edward Curtis, Roger Fenton and the Matthew Brady Studio, all with hi-resolution files available for download. And Ansel Adams. I'm not a great Adams fan, and don't pretend to be an expert on his work (Adams aficionados are a strangely fanatical crew) but the LoC's collection of his photographs of the Manzanar internment camp made in 1943 turned up a couple of gems.
Left: People walking, Manzanar Relocation Center, 1943
Right:View south from Manzanar to Alabama Hills, Manzanar Relocation Center, 1943
(Click images for larger views.)
UPDATE: after re-reading this entry, it struck me as odd and perhaps a bit tasteless to be talking about photo gems in the context of Manzanar. And perhaps it must have struck Adams a bit odd, too, when he was shooting there.
These photos are awesome, fascinating historical records; if slightly atypical of the Adams' better known work, I think it'd be fine to call them gems.
They've got powerful political resonance, too. I think the Very Adams landscape above has a barbed wire fence running along the horizon. And his portraits of the internees as happy, hardworking productive Americans was a refutation of the anglo suspicions that herded these folks into the camps in the first place.
I've been collecting/chasing after the vintage prints Adams sold in the camp's general store, but I've also been happy to get exhibition prints of some images, too, struck from the Adams' negatives, which he donated to the LOC. They're gorgeous--and cheap, if not quite $5. Very cool stuff.