..May 2013.. ..New York..
Mr. Jong-keun Lee, an atomic bomb survivor, speaking to a New York City junior high school student about his experiences in Hiroshima.
Mr. Lee is an ethnic Korean who was born in Hiroshima during 1928; five years after his family came to Japan. He still lives in Hiroshima.
..October 2009.. Takabashi, Tokyo..
Minoru Tsukiyama-san
Shop Keeper
Takabashi, Tokyo
..May 2011.. ..Dresden..
Walking up the hill across from the Slaughterhouse where Kurt Vonnegut was during the bombardment of Dresden.
Many years after Dresden was destroyed tons of stone debris from the baroque city was cleared to numerous sites around the edge of the city. The majority of the rubble was buried under this massive hill.
On sun splashed spring afternoon it’s hard to imagine that it was created from the horrors of war. Underneath the grass the memories of a once glorious city and pieces of people’s lives uncomfortably rest.
An interview from 2010 during my first trip to Dresden for From Above.
..June 2010.. ..New York to Chemnitz..
Radio interview by Maria Kotzur of Apollo Radio about From Above in Dresden, Germany on survivors of the Dresden firebombings February 13th, 1945.
Press the play arrow/link that says “German” to listen. The interview starts at about 25 seconds into the broadcast.
English
German
..February 2015..
Mr. Sumiteru Taniguchi and Mrs. Setsuko Thurlow, hibikusha, atomic bomb survivors have both been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I had the privilege of photographing both for From Above.
Below is a portion of Mr. Taniguchi’s story.
..December 2014.. ..Nagasaki, Dresden, Leipzig..
Sadly, 2014 saw the passing of three people who I photographed for From Above and the Berlin Wall project.
Mrs. Hiroshi Matsuzoe, Mrs. Lieselotte Jakob and Pastor Christian Führer were some of the most memorable people who I have ever photographed. I have a great deal of respect for what they have endured and stood for later in their lives. I never understood why they thanked me so much for being interested in their lives because they naturally seemed like extraordinary people to me. They lived every moment demonstrating that peace begins with your actions then it can be spread exponentially.
I never had doubts about what they fought for. I need to thank them because they had more trust in me at times than I had in myself. I hope that my photographs will continue to carry on their message even though their voices have gone silent.
Mr. Matsuzoe was one the first hibakusha, atomic bomb survivor, I photographed and interviewed for From Above. He was 14 years old when the atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki.
Mr. Matsuzoe dedicated his life to informing students about the importance of abolishing nuclear weapons. Last year he lost his voice to cancer but still spread his message when doctor’s restored his voice by installing an electronic device in his voice box.
Mrs. Lieselotte Jakob was one of the oldest survivors of the Dresden firebombings that I photographed. She lived in Dresden all her life and each year she attended the commemoration ceremonies to make sure the survivors message of peace and reconciliation weren’t not drowned out by the misguided ideology of vengeance. Mrs. Jakob is a testament that the softest voices can have a lasting impression over the sophomoric who are shouting.
Pastor Christian Führer was the organizer of the Monday Demonstrations at the Nikolakirche in Leipzig, East Germany. During the autumn of 1989, the demonstrations were a catalyst for the fall of the socialist East German regime which ruled since the end of WWII.
Pastor Führer galvanized millions of people to speak out for greater civil liberties in a country where dissent and criticism of the “system” was not tolerated. What started out as a movement consisting of a handful of people swept through an entire population over the course of a decade. He is an example of the power one person’s actions can have, not only on a country, but history. He was one of the most under appreciated figures, who I consider a real person (not some bureaucratic or politician), who brought a crashing end to the Cold War. Even thought I don’t believe he is given enough credit for his role in history, Pastor Führer’s modesty wouldn’t permit it. He probably saw what he contributed to as his responsibility to society.
..December 2014.. ..New York..
I received the sad news that Mrs. Lieselotte Jakob passed away earlier this year. Mrs. Jakob was one of the Dresden fire bombing survivors I photographed during my first trip to Dresden.
When I returned to Dresden with the From Above exhibition in 2011 she told me that the venue, where the exhibition was held in, was one of the places she and her family had slept in the night after the destruction of Dresden on February 13th, 1945.
I consider myself lucky to have spent time with Mrs. Jakob. She is missed. It was an honor to have known her.
..November 2014.. ..Tokyo..
Some photos of From Above being exhibited at the Futakotamagawa Biennale in Tokyo.
This exhibition featured prints of atomic bomb survivors and Tokyo fire bombing survivors from March 11th, 1945.
