THE LAST CAMERA SHOP

Recently, on a trip to Chicago, I came across this extraordinary camera shop—Central Camera. Founded in 1899, it’s Chicago’s oldest camera store. It was a Sunday so the store wasn’t open, but I desperately wanted to go in and check it out. There’s something special about a camera store that has such a long history.

One by one, independent camera stores have been closing either because of the economy or, worse, obsolescence. People would rather shop at a big camera store chain, a warehouse store, or an online retailer, doing their own research, forgoing customer service, and saving money.  

I can’t help but think of the photography industry, which is rapidly changing. Recently, venerable Kodak filed for bankruptcy. The related motion picture industry is quickly evolving too. In Creative Cow, Debra Kaufmann reported, “ARRI, Panavision and Aaton have quietly ceased production of film cameras within the last year to focus exclusively on design and manufacture of digital cameras.”

While I love using the latest technology, I have a fondness for traditional film cameras. In fact, one of my favorite cameras is a tiny Rollei 35 that I inherited from my father, who was a photographer. He also owned an even smaller Minox 35, which was stolen.

Maybe one day, I’ll travel to Chicago again and finally visit this historic camera shop. Hopefully, it will still exist, and I’ll find a vintage Minox 35 or the latest digital camera. Without specialty stores like this one and their knowlegeable salespeople and innovative products, we never would've arrived here. 

PORTRAITS OF JAPANESE AMERICAN ACTIVISM

Lloyd Inui, founding member and former Director of the Asian American Studies Program at California State University—Long Beach

Karen Ishizuka, award-winning producer and writer

Jim Matsuoka, founding member of Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress

What’s the face of Japanese American activism today? Male or female? Young or old? Gay or straight? It’s all of these things, as I’ve come to learn.

Recently, I had the honor of being invited to photograph the Legacy of Japanese American Activism Conference—an intergenerational conference of Nikkei activists to discuss critical community issues and to take action around these issues.

Held on November 5, 2011 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, the conference provided an opportunity for different generations of Nikkei activists to come together and develop a broader perspective on the issues that they’re working on. 

The conference was dynamic in that it used a workshop format. So instead of there being typical speakers and attendees, everyone was an active participant. The topics of the workshops included: Activism in the Great Recession, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Educate to Transform!, LGBT[JA]Q?, and The Role of Community Activism in Little Tokyo.

There were many respected activists on the workshop panels. However, there may have been more in attendance. One younger participant explained it the best. She revealed that she was intimidated by all the noted activists at the conference. But in the end, it didn’t matter because everyone showed mutual respect for one another and valued each other’s ideas.

Humility seemed to be a common characteristic of all these activists. When we asked some of them if we could take their portrait, they often replied, “Why? What did I do?”

At the same time, I couldn’t help but be humbled by the many achievements of all these activists, from fighting racism to surviving internment to protesting against war. In many ways, we wouldn’t be here without their sacrifice and hard work.

Even though the conference was about Japanese American activism, it seemed to also apply to activism in general. So in looking at and photographing the different faces throughout the conference, I saw less Japanese American or Asian American activists and more concerned human beings who want to make a difference.

I was deeply honored to be a part of this historic event. Hopefully, the next generation of activists will be born from and nurtured by inspiring events like this one. Naturally, their faces will continue to change.

To learn more about the Japanese American Activism Conference, visit:

http://jalegacy2011.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/jalegacy2011

To learn more about our portraits, visit:

Lloyd Inui: http://www.janm.org/projects/inrp/english/staff.htm

Karen Ishizuka: http://janmstore.com/karenishizuka.html

Jim Matsuoka: http://jalegacy2011.wordpress.com/narrative-interview-essays/jim-matsuoka/