America has a dark history during the WWII, often overlooked and replaced with narratives of liberation and freedom. But on the 19th February, 1942, President Franklin D.Roosevelt signed an executive order initiating the incarceration of all Americans of Japanese descent living in and surrounding the West Coast. Intersections of World War paranoia and racism culminated in the imprisonment of 120,000 Japanese Americans in detention camps. The overwhelming of arrests were baseless and unconstitutional and led to the disruption and traumatization of thousands of people’s lives.

A new exhibition revolves around this historical event and is titled ‘Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties’ . The exhibition features work by both noted American documentary photographers such has Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams and incarcerated Japanese American artists Toyo Miyatake and Miné Okubo. The exhibition draws unnerving parrales to historical processes happening in the current political climate of the United States. The exhibition is open for the public till the 27th May at 100 Montgomery Street The Presidio, San Francisco. Visiting hours are from 10am – 6pm, Wednesday – Sunday, and admission is free. https://thentheycame.org