Little Tokyo was home to a group of art photographers whose works were exhibited and published worldwide during the 1920s and 1930s. Sadly most of their photographs were lost or destroyed during the forced relocation of Japanese Americans.

Professor Dennis Reed began searching for these lost photographs 30 years ago, a hunt he detailed earlier this year on National Public Radio’s The Story. He will discuss the photographer’s lives, show examples of their work, including actual photographs in the Museum’s collection, and describe the recovery of this nearly lost art. As Reed says, “The Japanese American photographers who worked in Los Angeles attained a level of accomplishment and influence that was unequalled by any other group of immigrants from a single nation. They must be remembered.”