Family Album
Personal photographs from families incarcerated during World War II, preserving the human experience behind the historical events.
These intimate images, taken by internees themselves, document daily life, celebrations, and moments of connection within the confines of the concentration camps. Each collection represents an act of resistance—the determination to preserve dignity and humanity through the lens of a camera.
About This Collection
Masumi Hayashi collected these photographs as part of her broader documentation of the Japanese American internment experience. While her panoramic photo collages capture the landscapes of the ten WRA camps as they exist today, these family album images provide a window into life as it was lived within those spaces.
Many internees smuggled cameras into the camps despite prohibitions. Professional photographers like Toyo Miyatake built cameras from smuggled parts. Amateur photographers like Grace Akiya hid their cameras at the bottom of duffel bags. Their photographs—of weddings, birthdays, friendships, and daily routines—stand as testimony to the resilience of community under oppression. Hear survivors describe the conditions they faced and the spirit they maintained.
Internee's Album Pages
Understanding the Family Albums
Photography as Resistance
Cameras were initially prohibited in the camps, classified as contraband alongside weapons and radios. Yet many internees found ways to document their experiences. These photographs were acts of defiance—assertions that their lives mattered and deserved to be recorded. Learn more about the historical context.
Preserving Dignity
The careful composition of many family album photographs—subjects in their best clothes, formal poses, attention to presentation—reflects the internees' determination to maintain dignity despite dehumanizing conditions. These images are not signs of contentment but deliberate assertions of humanity. See how Masumi captured this same spirit in her survivor portrait collages.
Explore More
For comprehensive exhibition documentation and scholarly context
View Full Exhibition Documentation →