The photograph collection, 1923-2011, is a selection of the most interesting, informative, or aesthetically interesting photos, taken from the broader collection of all photos amassed by the Senator’s Washington, D.C. and Honolulu offices over his career, as well as personal photos that were included with the offices’ photos. The photos are organized by subject, then usually chronologically. Subjects include personal photos, photos of the Senator with various individuals, campaign photos, photos from the Watergate and Iran-Contra hearings, photos of specific events, military-related photos, radio and television appearances, and foreign relations-related photos. Also included are photo albums compiled for the Senator commemorating various events.

Personal photos include photos of the Senator when he was a toddler, as a youth through his days at McKinley High School, and from his time in the Army, the majority of which are from his time spent in rehabilitation. Also included are photos of the Senator’s parents both prior to and after his birth, other family members, Maggie Inouye, and Kenny Inouye.

Photos of individuals include, firstly, the Senator himself, including a fairly comprehensive run of the official photos he used throughout the years for publicity purposes, as well as other non-official portraits. Also included are photos of the Senator with various famous people, such as Ernie Kovacs and Robert Redford; photos of the Senator with the Presidents of the United States, including visits of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to Hawaii; photos of the Senator with Vice Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey; the Senator with other senators, members of congress and governor Burns; and the Senator with staff and interns, including Henry Giugni.

Campaign photos cover the Senator’s 1959, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1974, and 1998 campaigns, as well as his participation in the 1984 campaign. Also included are photos of the Senator’s participation in various Democratic National Conventions.

The Watergate and Iran-Contra hearings photos are not extensive, but they have been arranged separately from other event photos because of the particular import of these events in the history of the nation.

Event photos cover over thirty events that the Senator participated in from the 1960s through the 1990s, including dedications, conventions, visits of groups and individuals to Washington, D.C., luncheons, and veterans-related events.

Military-related photos include photos from the Senator’s visit to Frankfurt, Germany during operation “Big Lift,” 1963; photos of the launching ceremony of the Kamehameha on Mare Island, Vallejo, California, 1965; and other photos of interest.

Radio and television appearance photos include photos from the Senator’s appearances on “Voice of America,” “Face the Nation,” and “Meet the Press.”

Foreign relations photos consist of a handful of photos designated by staff members as such, and include photos of the Senator with various dignitaries from Japan, Korea, China and the Philippines, and also with, for example, Prime Minister Shimon Peres and President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Finally, the photo albums, some of which have been rehoused in photo sleeves and some of which have been kept as is, cover a wide array of events, and were for the most part compiled for the Senator to commemorate a certain event. These events include congressional delegations to Asia and Europe, ship christenings, reunions, tributes, and visits. Of special note are several albums on the Senator’s trips to the Philippines for flood relief efforts in 1972 and 1973, as part of his work on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, and the same subcommittee’s trip to Phnom Penn, Khmer Republic, 1973; and an album to commemorate the occasion of Inouye’s receiving an honorary doctorate degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, 1989, which includes photos of the Senator with Zubin Mehta, Jürgen Habermas, and others.

Note that the majority of the photos in this collection are from the early and middle period of the Senator’s career. The reason for this is in large part due to technology – as digital cameras came into use, many of the photos taken of the Senator later in his career exist in digital form, rather than print. Please consult the series “Born-digital records” for more information on digital photos in the collection.

Also note that when important information was written on the back of a photo, the back has been left exposed in the photo sleeve, and if a note with important information was included with the photo, that is included on the back, as well. In cases where no information on the photos was available, photos have been inserted in the photo sleeves back-to-back.

Finally, when accessing the oversize photos in flat box number PH28, note that the folders and photos are organized bottom to top, such that folder number one is at the bottom of the box, and within the folders, the oldest photos are at the bottom of the folder, and the most recent on top.

To access additional photographs, consult the "Separations" series, which consists of materials that were separated out of the textual materials for the sake of providing better housing for the materials. When photos were separated out, it was done so because the photos were deemed to have value over those that were left in the papers. Many photos were separated out that may be of interest.