Mae Yanagi Ferral. Photo left: Dorothea Lange. Photo right: Paul Kitagaki, Jr.

Photographer Paul Kitagaki’s exhibit explores the legacy of an enduring spirit as Japanese American’s triumphed over adversity in the WWII incarceration camps.

As he searched through photos at the National Archives in 1984, Kitagaki found a photo taken by famed documentary photographer Dorothea Lange of his grandparents and father preparing to board a bus in Oakland enroute to a World War II incarceration camp. Through slow and painstaking research, Kitagaki has spent 15 years locating and winning the trust of the families who lived through the incarceration, documenting their stories of survival and inner strength to overcome injustice, racism, and wartime hysteria.

“Many of the Issei and Nisei never shared their stories with their own families. As some of the subjects recounted their experiences, they were overcome with tears and emotion as long-forgotten memories returned. For many, this was the first time for them to publicly speak about what they endured.” Paul Kitagaki, Jr.

Photographer and videographer Paul Kitagaki Jr. has traveled the world covering natural and human-caused disasters, and international athletes competing for gold at ten different Olympic Games. His work has been honored with dozens of photo awards – including the Pulitzer Prize and Emmy nominations – and his photos have been published in news outlets world-wide including National Geographic, Time, Smithsonian Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Stern, People, Mother Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, as well as in his home paper, The Sacramento Bee.

Exhibit is free and open to the public.

Gallery hours: Mondays and Thursdays 10 am -4pm and by appointment.  https://j-sei.org/