Research Catalog

Title

Picture man : the legacy of southeast Alaska photographer Shoki Kayamori / Margaret Thomas.

Author

Thomas, Margaret, 1959-

Publication

Fairbanks, AK : University of Alaska Press, [2015]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiv, 134 pages : illustrations, maps; 26 cm

Summary

"In 1912, Shoki Kayamori and his box camera arrived in a small Tlingit village in southeast Alaska. At a time when Asian immigrants were forbidden to own property and faced intense racial pressure, the Japanese-born Kayamori put down roots and became part of the Yakutat community. For three decades he photographed daily life in the village, turning his lens on locals and migrants alike, and gaining the nickname 'Picture Man.' But as World War II drew near, his passion for photography turned dangerous as government officials called out Kayamori as a potential spy. Despondent, Kayamori committed suicide, leaving behind an enigmatic photographic legacy. In Picture Man, Margaret Thomas views Kayamori's life through multiple lenses. Using Kayamori's original photos, she explores the economic and political realities that sent Kayamori and thousands like him out of Japan toward opportunity and adventure in the United States, especially the Pacific Northwest. She reveals the tensions around Asian immigrants in the West Coast and the racism that sent many young men north to work in the canneries of Alaska. And she illuminates the intersecting--and at times conflicting--lives of villagers and migrants in a time of enormous change. Part history, part biography, part photographic showcase, Picture Man offers a fascinating new view of Alaska history"--

Subject

• Kayamori, Shoki, 1877-1941
• Japanese American photographers > Alaska > Biography
• Photographers > Alaska > Biography
• Japanese Americans > Alaska > Biography
• Immigrants > Alaska > Biography
• Japanese Americans > Alaska > Social conditions > 20th century
• Tlingit Indians > Alaska > Yakutat > Social life and customs > 20th century > Pictorial works
• Documentary photography > Alaska > History > 20th century
• HISTORY / General
• ART / General
• Alaska > Race relations > History > 20th century
• Yakutat (Alaska) > Social life and customs > 20th century > Pictorial works

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 125-128) and index.

Contents

Meiji Japan -- West Coast -- The Aokis -- Cannery Life -- Yakutat -- Spies -- The Collection.

Call Number

MFX (Kayamori) 15-3532

ISBN

• 9781602232457
• 1602232458
• 9781602232464 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2014023690

OCLC

891615635

Author

Thomas, Margaret, 1959- author.

Title

Picture man : the legacy of southeast Alaska photographer Shoki Kayamori / Margaret Thomas.

Publisher

Fairbanks, AK : University of Alaska Press, [2015]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 125-128) and index.

Research Call Number

MFX (Kayamori) 15-3532