DE/TENSION/PAST

In spring 2019, 21c Museum Hotel asked to exhibit my original documentary photographs of the WWII Japanese American incarceration camps. These photographs were made so long ago that I questioned whether they encompassed the conceptual message which today’s political climate warranted. The parallels between the WWII Japanese America incarceration and family separation and that of current migrants at the U.S./Mexico border are clear and disturbing. In 1976, President Gerald Ford repealed the Executive Order 9066 singled out Japanese Americans for incarceration. He called on Americans to “resolve that this kind of action shall never again be repeated." It is the concept of repetition led me to re-photograph my older photographs.

Reviewing the previous negatives through the lens of the present moment, new negatives resonated and previously printed works found new meaning. The 5 layers of removal from the incarceration sites themselves embedded generational loss in the lack of information contained in the prints, metaphorically discussing our societal memory loss and disregard for lessons learned. Thirteen images were made for DE/TENSION/PAST and exhibited in the Louisville 21c Museum Hotel flagship galleries for the 2019 Photo Louisville Festival. The exhibition text was displayed in English, Japanese and Spanish to point audiences unambiguously to the peoples affected. Curator Amethyst Beaver wrote, “As the rallying cry of ‘Never Again is Now’ and the apologies of presidents past are forgotten in moments of fear and perceived vulnerability, these photographs serve as potent visual reminders, warnings to not repeat the mistakes of the past.”