Bodies and Structures

People

While the surviving photos in the collection indicate that Gail visited Okinawa's historic sites and took in the natural beauty, the majority of his photos are centered on Okinawans themselves. Their daily practices, work and play, have been featured in other sub-pathways in this module, but here, I have selected photos in which the photographer makes clear that people are central subjects. For many of the images, he wrote comments on their clothing (and other accoutrements), expressions, actions, and even racial characteristics ("mongoloid features"). In other words, like most of the American military personnel in Okinawa, Gail probably did not have a deep understanding of Okinawan history and culture and could not, therefore, interact with these spaces beyond a superficial level. 

This is most striking because Okinawa in the 1950s was a place of vociferous political turmoil. 
 

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