Archive of a Japanese-American MIS Photographer, c. 1945
Silver prints (approx. 800)
Most measuring 2 x 2 inches on slightly larger sheets
Some with annotations and identifications typed or written verso.
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During his time with the Military Intelligence Service in 1945, Henry Harada was tasked with photographing Japanese prisoners-of-war, a morally-complicated undertaking for a Nisei serviceman who had previously been interned...
During his time with the Military Intelligence Service in 1945, Henry Harada was tasked with photographing Japanese prisoners-of-war, a morally-complicated undertaking for a Nisei serviceman who had previously been interned at the Poston Concentration Camp. However, the rich and keenly-observed body of work that Harada created in his off-hours, first in Washington State and then in Japan and the Philippines, tells a parallel story, one of a restless image-maker, continually recording the people in his life and perfecting his craft of portrait photography.
The 800+ photographs in the present collection contain a substantial number of humanistic, sensitive portraits. (It is no surprise that later in life he would try many times to open his own photo studio.) There are many thoughtfully-composed shots of his fellow members of the MIS, most all identified and many of them fellow Nisei, as well as solo or group portraits of other military personnel, as well as shots of Philippines locals and refugees, Japanese performers, geishas, jazz musicians, everyday citizens, and many charming self-portraits of the man himself. The other portion of the collection contains hundreds finely-considered views of the landscape and architecture of these same places where he was stationed.
Henry Hirshi Harada, or “Hank” as his friends and family called him, was born November 8, 1920 in Yuma, Arizona as the eldest of six. His first foray into photography was when he became a yearbook photographer at Yuma Union High School. In 1942, the Harada family was placed in an interment camp in Poston, Arizona five months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Henry Harada was granted leave when he became sponsored by National Shoe Service in Cincinnati where he worked as a cobbler. He was drafted in 1944 but never saw the frontlines as he was transferred to the Language Department School in Fort Snelling, MN. In 1945 he began photographing Japanese prisoners-of-war in the Pacific Theater (mainly at camps in Luzon in the Philippines) as a part of the secret Military Intelligence Service program. When the war was over he graduated from the Art Center College of design for photography in 1949 and met his wife, Tomiko Shinozaki. Harada sought to set up his own studio but could only find managerial jobs of photo departments for contractor companies in southern California. Later when he retired, he taught photography at El Camino College. He died on December 21, 2018 at a care home in Costa Mesa, California.
The Military Intelligence Service (MIS) was a secret military unit during WWII that played a critical role in the end of the war and navigating the aftermath by providing interpretation services. Following the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, the United States War department sought to bolster their Japanese language intelligence by creating a specialized school for Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) to not only be trained in translation but also in interrogation, propaganda writing, and radio communication. During the operation, the MIS translated and interpreted thousands of enemy documents and prisoner of war interrogations. Nearly 6,000 linguists graduated the program to later serve the MIS where they would then go on to serve on all fronts and work with every branch of the military. Some notable contributions of the MIS was the task of convincing civilians and soldiers to surrender in the caves of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, as well as the translation of pilfered Japanese documents that outlined the counterattack plans in 1944.
While the program offered an escape from the Japanese internment camps during the time, many participants found themselves in a moral bind. It was not easy for the Nisei to prove their loyalties to a country that had antagonized their families and friends. Often, the MIS members would have to overcome the anti-Japanese sentiment from American troops or avoid friendly fire when being mistaken for an enemy soldier. One of the most difficult factors of working as a communication aide was the emotional toll of experiencing the brutalities firsthand. After the atomic bombs, the MIS were of the first to witness the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The MIS continued to offer their services in the occupation of Japan following their surrender. They translated and interpreted the war crimes trials and worked with military officials to install a Western-aligned government.