Description
Book SynopsisIn 1942, Bill Manbo and his family were forced from their Hollywood home into a Japanese American internment in Wyoming. While there, Manbo documented his surroundings using Kodachrome film.
Colors of Confinement showcases sixty-five stunning images from this extremely rare collection of photographs.
Trade Review“Injustice, in Kodachrome.” -
The New York Times“Sheds new light on life in Wyoming's Heart Mountain internment camp. . . . Disarming. . . . [Manbo's] images show movement and smiles caught in a moment. The people do not perform because of his camera but in spite of it.” -
Casper Star-Tribune“These images offer readers glimpses of the internment that are in vivid color and, unlike government- sanctioned photos, candid and earnest. . . .Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.” -
Choice“[A] provocative and noteworthy collection. . . . [with] unquestionable cultural and historical significance.” -
Publishers Weekly“A rare insider's view of daily life in [Japanese-American internment] camps.” -
Durham Herald Sun“These portraits provide a stark reminder that the families of Heart Mountain were prisoners of war.” - NPR Online
“The strength of this title is the photography: Manbo documents a people who rose above persecution and injustice to carry on traditions and form a community in a barren landscape. Anyone interested in documentary photography and American social and cultural history will appreciate this book. Highly recommended.” -
Library Journal starred review
“The narratives and scholarly essays combine with the photos to forge a powerful statement. As humans we see the world in color, so the Kodachrome images convey the circumstances, as we would experience them if we were there. This level of reality is something that existing black and white camp photos cannot duplicate.” -
American Studies Journal“Muller recognized this power of color photography to revive the past and has created a book that presents the internee experience through a modern lens. Just as Manbo's slides were miraculously preserved (in a box in his son's garage), Muller's compilation will help preserve our collective memory of the internment experience.” -
Hyphen: Asian America Unabridged“Stunning.” -
Huffington Post“The collection of pictures [Manbo] took there. . . represent a singular view of internment, all executed in color.” -
Los Angeles Times “Poignant images of pickup baseball, judo matches, parades, and other daily life in a Wyoming internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.” -
Military History Quarterly“Showcas[es] 65 color images from [Bill Manbo's] rare collection. . . . Each of the essays helps the reader look at the photographs from a different perspective.” -
Carolina Law“The photographs give a haunting account of what life was like for Japanese descents.” -
Daily Mail Online“This is a testament to the incredible power of photography. Even one frame can change the tide of public opinion because photography has the power to add layers to our understanding of how events transpired and how people were affected.” -
Washington Post“These are not pictures of horrors of confinement but rather photos that show how the Japanese made lives for themselves.” -
Denver Post“This volume is at once a wonderful and rare addition . . . to the existing images of the
Nikkei experience while incarcerated during World War II.” -
Nichi Bei Weekly
