Richard Yoshikawa

Showing the fire at Rohwer Relocation Center at the relocation camp in Stockton. 

The damage to the Rohwer Relocation Center was photographed by Yoshikawa after the fire. 

The Rohwer Relocation center was one of the main areas for interned Japanese in Stockton during the early 1940s. Richard Yoshikawa, who was the oldest son to Nisuke Yoshikawa and Misako Nakamura, took a majority of these photographs while he was within the relocation center with his family. After his time spent within Rohwer, Yoshikawa was able to continue his study of photography in New York City at the School of Modern Photography in 1943-1944. His younger brother later entered the army while his three younger siblings remained in Rohwer. They all returned to the Stockton area after the war (Online Archives of California). 

This man leaning against a porch was indicative of the types of images Yoshikawa liked to take. 

Many of Yoshikawa's photos showed ordinary people, such as this man in front of a buidling. 

During his time spent in internment, Yoshikawa focused a lot on the people around him. Unlike previous photographers, Yoshikawa didn't take photographs of buildings as much, and used them mostly as background material. This may have been because of his internment and lack of distinguishing buildings around him, or he may have simply preferred a more human element within his photography. Regardless, Yoshikawa captures all different types of people during his time as a photographer, keeping their expressions on film.