The Go For Broke Spirit

@thegoforbrokespirit6489

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My name is Shane Sato, a photographer for the past 30 years based in Los Angeles. I’ve been shooting portraits of Japanese American WWII Nisei veterans since 2000, starting with my The Go For Broke series, which was shot in black and white, and had the veterans posing in their club shirts. I wanted to do another series to continue photographing more veterans, so I thought I would shoot in color. I shot a few test portraits of veterans wearing their personal clothing. People thought that these were just photos of older Asians and/or seniors, and they could not make the link to their service as soldiers. Around 2007, I decided to use uniforms to help the public “see into the past.” There was a dramatic change in the response. Now people could equate these men, in the twilight of their lives, to the vets who fought in WWII. Having shot over 120 portraits since 2000, I am now working together with Robert Horsting, an oral historian, to create the coffee table book, The Go For Broke Spirit.