Seen and Unseen

Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration by Elizabeth Partridge, illus. Lauren Tamaki, 132 pages.

This short work of nonfiction combines illustrations, photographs from the photographers in the title, and written information on the incarceration of Japanese Americans into a fresh perspective on the topic. The three photographers were all coming from different backgrounds, working towards different ends, and reporting to different people; so, taken together, they present a much more nuanced and complete view of this historical injustice. 

I didn't initially realize when I added this book to my reading list that it was written for younger readers. That being said, I think it's still a valuable book for anyone. It has a good depth of topic, while still being very easy to understand and digestible. I do wish that there were more photographs, which seemed a little lacking given that they were allegedly the topic of the book, and that they were more clearly credited in the text, and not just in the notes at the end. Still, this is an interesting and informative book on a topic that is unfortunately feeling very relevant lately.