"There is no time here."
The following resources listed below are integral references to my project in creating visual poetry through experimental photography inspired by the legacy of Jun Fujita (1888-1963), a courageous Japanese American trailblazer in poetry, photojournalism and more.
With the generous support of the Minnesota State Arts Board 2025 Creative Individuals grant, I will make a pilgrimage to Jun Fujita's cabin, a national historic landmark, at Voyageurs National Park on Rainy Lake, Minnesota and honor his artistic spirit by generating new works of site-specific visual poetry.
With the generous support of the Minnesota State Arts Board 2025 Creative Individuals grant, I will make a pilgrimage to Jun Fujita's cabin, a national historic landmark, at Voyageurs National Park on Rainy Lake, Minnesota and honor his artistic spirit by generating new works of site-specific visual poetry.
At the summit of Takamiyama on Mukaishima island in Hiroshima Prefecture where Jun Fujita grew up.
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Oblivion There is no time here. From giant trunks hoary moss Hangs through the air of shadow green. And cool dew drips. |
"Jun Fujita: Behind the Camera" by Graham Harrison Lee
Click here to pre-order a copy of Jun Fujita's official biography.
https://hatandbeard.com/products/fujita-behind-the-camera
Author blurb from publisher website: Graham Lee is the great-nephew of Jun Fujita. As the self-appointed family archivist, he has preserved several family items specific to Fujita, including a collection of negatives that may never have been printed or exhibited, family photos and artifacts, and a collection of poetry that has never been published. This book began with two green metal drawers full of Fujita’s personal negatives. As Lee digitized each negative, images began to emerge: delicate wildflowers, a rugged riveter hugging a Chicago skyscraper. Each one told a story. Lee spent the last 15 years researching Fujita’s life, retracing his great uncle’s footsteps, and creating a story that combines a rich family history with important historical and personal photographs.
https://hatandbeard.com/products/fujita-behind-the-camera
Author blurb from publisher website: Graham Lee is the great-nephew of Jun Fujita. As the self-appointed family archivist, he has preserved several family items specific to Fujita, including a collection of negatives that may never have been printed or exhibited, family photos and artifacts, and a collection of poetry that has never been published. This book began with two green metal drawers full of Fujita’s personal negatives. As Lee digitized each negative, images began to emerge: delicate wildflowers, a rugged riveter hugging a Chicago skyscraper. Each one told a story. Lee spent the last 15 years researching Fujita’s life, retracing his great uncle’s footsteps, and creating a story that combines a rich family history with important historical and personal photographs.
News & Media
“Enemy Alien”: How Chicago photojournalist Jun Fujita avoided Japanese internment camps - WBEZ Chicago, 2025. Podcast.
"50 Years, 50 Legacies" (2025) - Voyageur Conservancy's profile of Jun Fujita, https://www.voyageurs.org/news/jun-fujita
"Jun Fujita"- Article highlighting Jun Fujita's contributions to environmental conservation through photographic documentation of what is now Voyageurs National Park (MN) and Indiana Dunes National Parks. National Parks Service. Oct. 2023
"Jun Fujita Cabin, Rainy Lake" (2025) - Reference article by published by the Minnesota Historical Society, www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/structure/jun-fujita-cabin-rainy-lake
"The Man Behind The Powerful, Disturbing Images Of The 1919 Race Riots Emerges From Obscurity" - 2019 July 24, Block Club Chicago. blockclubchicago.org/2019/07/24/jun-fujita-1919-race-riots-chicago-photographer/
Poetry
Jun Fujita is credited to be the first to publish tanka, a short poetic form related to haiku, in English. Below are links to poetry he published, and articles about his literary legacy.
Poetry in Exile by Jun Fujita, a collection of published by Covici-McGee Co. in 1923
Links to selected poetry, biographies and essays about Jun Fujita:
Poetry in Exile by Jun Fujita, a collection of published by Covici-McGee Co. in 1923
Links to selected poetry, biographies and essays about Jun Fujita:
- "Jun Fujita" (2025) - Poetry Foundation's profile and selected poetry of Fujita
- "Behind the Camera" (2017)- essay by Ruth Graham, a journalist in New Hampshire.
- "The Search for Jun Fujita" (2019)- Poetry Magazine article by Dr. Nobuko Chikamatsu-Chandler, associate professor and director of the Japanese Language and Studies Program in the Department of Modern Languages at DePaul University.
Photography
- Photographs by Jun Fujita at the Art Institute of Chicago:
- Newspaper Photographs by Jun Fujita at Chicago History Museum
Mukaishima, Japan
In November 2023, I was fortunate enough to visit the island of Mukaishima in Hiroshima, Japan where Jun Fujita grew up with his family. I biked around the island and even visited the site of where his childhood home once stood thanks to the help of Graham Lee - his great-nephew.
To get a sense of the landscapes that surrounded Jun's early life, feel free to view photographs of Mukaishima by clicking here: flic.kr/s/aHBqjC7P4F
To get a sense of the landscapes that surrounded Jun's early life, feel free to view photographs of Mukaishima by clicking here: flic.kr/s/aHBqjC7P4F
Visual Poetry by Dawn
Experimentations with words and images inspired by the works of Jun Fujita
