A stroll through Manzanar National Historic Site in the Owens Valley of California, USA, on the 79th anniversary of the United States' entry into World War II, and this year's 75th anniversary of the end of this second world war
Photographs taken on 35mm black and white film (inspired by photographs of Toyo Miyatake)
Owens Valley, California, USA / November 2020
A layout of the the camp and an exemplary "block" may be accessed by clicking here
Intersection at the northern boundary road circling the internment center with a view of the Sierra Nevada in the background
Stones mark the site of a barracks in one of the more than thirty living "blocks" organized at Manzanar
Home plate and the pitcher's mound location between Blocks 19 and 25. The Japanese are fanatics for baseball, and this was no exception for those residing at the internment camp
A concrete slab and eight holes with rusted pipe mark the site of shared latrines. There was one men's and one women's latrine serving a "block" containing fourteen barracks of up to 300 residents each
Empty landscape is what one finds at the majority of the layout of the original Manzanar relocation camp
Rusted remnants of building materials may be found scattered about the grounds, relics of the facilities that once housed and served those American citizens of Japanese descent incarcerated at Manzanar
The starkness of a latrine footprint reflects the lack of privacy provided to residents due to open side-by-side toilets and communal showers
Block 32 at the northen end of the Manzanar War Relocation Center, now overgrown with shrubs and trees
Originally Rose Park at its creation in 1942 and later renamed "Pleasure Park" a year later, the present day location is known as Merritt Park in reference to the Center's director Ralph P. Merritt
Koinobori mark Children's Day (May 5th) and may be found by the Children's Village in the center of the Manzanar camp
An information panel reads "An American Education" describing the establishment of schooling at Manzanar
A line of rock, a rusted pipe, and a stone pagoda are the few yet frequent reminders of the once bustling camp
Manzanar Contact Sheet - Ilford 35mm Delta 100
A sign marks the past site of a recreation hall to the left of Block 14's reconstructed mess hall toward the eastern section of the camp
Constant winds were a concern for residents at Manzanar, kicking up dust during summer months, and increasing the chill during the winter
The layers of a women's latrine, mess hall, and Sierra Nevada as seen at Block 14
Visitors are able to view a mock-up of sleeping quarters at a reconstructed barracks
The "Soul Consoling Tower" marks the location of the Manzanar cemetery, just outside the barbed wire boundary at the western side of the relocation camp
Concrete footprint of the morgue at Manzanar, where the deceased were refrigerated prior to their embalming at nearby Bishop, before being returned for burial at the camp
A wooden signs marks the location of where the patient wards of a hospital once stood
"DR'S & NURSE'S QUARTERS" across the road from the hospital
Site of the kendo dojo, one of two dojo facilities at Manzanar
White painted rocks line the administration area at the original entrance to the Manzanar War Relocation Center
The sign hanging at the main entrance to the Manzanar War Relocation Center
