From DiscoverNikkei.org
Jack Masaki Iwata
Photographer (1912-1992)
Jack Masaki Iwata (1912-1992) was a photographer who chronicled not only the evolution of U.S.-Japan relations for nearly six decades, but was especially interested in the popular culture of both countries, photographing scores of Japanese and American celebrities in the 1950s and 1960s. A Kibei Nisei born in Seattle, Iwata spent his formative years in Hiroshima Prefecture where he attended the Sotoku Chugakko. In 1928, he returned to the United States where he worked for his father while attending Whittier College. His professional career began in 1937 when famed Little Tokyo photographer Toyo Miyatake took an interest in the young Iwata, offering him a position at his studio. Iwata continued to work for Miyatake until the outbreak of World War II when he and his wife were forcibly removed to the Manzanar concentration camp. He rejoined forces with Miyatake at Manzanar and helped to organize the camp's photo lab. Reuniting with his father at the Tule Lake concentration camp, Iwata was appointed official camp photographer in 1945. There he captured some of the most poignant pictures of his career.
- Online Archive of California: Finding aid, "Guide to the Jack Iwata Collection, 1942-1945"