The Walther Collection

When one thinks of the Vietnam War, perhaps the first image that comes to mind is that of children burned, wailing, and running from a dense haze of napalm—the iconic photograph taken by Nick Út in the summer of 1972. However, war journalists were not the only people with cameras; the soldiers who were embroiled in this controversial war often carried cameras of their own and would take photos for more personal reasons. "Pictures are one of the few lasting material things a soldier brings back from Vietnam. Film will prove that there was a Vietnam and he was there," as an article from Tropic Lighting News in 1971 attests.

The Walther Collection recently acquired one such memento of the war. Assembled by G.I. Paul LaVallais, this photo album documents a USO Miss Black America show in Vietnam in 1971. In an introductory foreword to his album, LaVallais proudly writes, "It's a day to long remember for all the GIs black and white who witness the Miss Black America Show, and another part of Black American History being made." Within the album, we see photographs of Miss Black America and her retinue performing on stage; in another photo, two African-American soldiers, lifted above the shoulders of their comrades, hold the Black Power Fist flag and cheer for the celebrities. Through this singularly personal collection of photographs with their hand-written captions, LaVallais conveys one soldier's experience in Vietnam in such a way that would be impossible to replicate through war photojournalism.

At once unique yet also familiarly universal, photo albums such as LaVallais's provide glimpses into the everyday lives and social fabric of their time, and are the focus of our current exhibition, Scrapbook Love Story: Memory and the Vernacular Photo Album.

– Doris Lin