Archive for the ‘From Above’ Category

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Itaru Takahara

Thursday, August 13th, 2020

..August 2020.. ..Nagasaki..

“Every portrait has a silent voice.” -Itaru Takahara

写真とは、 声なき声。 高原至

I received the sad news that Mr. Itaru Takahara passed away on August 5th. He was 97 years old. Takahara-san survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and the firebombing of Tokyo five months prior.

I photographed Takahara-san in July 2010 when my hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) portraits were exhibited in Nagasaki. Takahara-san was a famous photographer who published a book documenting the ruins of the Urakami Cathedral. The atomic bomb detonated over Urakami which was home to the largest cathedral in eastern Asia. The cathedral was smashed and half of it’s steeple was tossed down a hill. Takahara-san spent years after the war documenting children playing and services being held in it’s ruins.

When I first met Takahara-san he asked me where my book was. I laughed and told him that no publisher was willing to print a book of my hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) and firebombing survivor portraits. I jokingly told him if I ever got a book offer he would have to write the introduction. A week later I was interviewed by ZERO NEWS, a national television show in Japan. The next day I was offered a book deal in Japan. Takahara-san wrote the introduction to my book, FROM ABOVE, that still inspires me to live every moment with a burning passion.

Takahara-san was a brilliant photographer but was an even better person. He had an infectious laugh, a zeal for life and the same weakness for chocolate cakes that I have. He paid attention to every minute detail of a photograph and saw beauty in silence. He reinforced that the importance of a photograph came from the emotion it resonated! The feelings are all that matters.

I will miss Takahara-san but the years I knew him left a permanent smile in my soul. You’ll always be my friend.

You can see Takahara-san somewhere in the middle of this documentary shot about my project FROM ABOVE. http://www.paulepictures.com/blog/?p=6834

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Atomic Bomb Dome, 11:42pm

Saturday, August 8th, 2020

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The Destroyed City sculpture, Rotterdam

Thursday, May 14th, 2020
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Dik de Boef

Monday, May 4th, 2020

“I used to believe the war was my parents war- that it was not part of my life. 
They lost 40 friends to starvation and execution. 
At the end of the 1980’s, I realized the war was a part of my life. 
Once I went to therapy the memories came back. 
Now I accept war is a part of my own history.” 
-Dik de Boef

Dik de Boef was four years old on February 22, 1944 when the Allies bombed the Dutch cities of Arnhem, Nijmegen and Enschede.  Two bombs fell on his family’s home.    

“My mother called my name.  I was unconscious but after a couple of hours I said “Yes, I’m here.”  I was playing near a wall.  The two bombs created a vacuum- the wall and the roof collapsed on top of me.  It took hours to rescue me because only a small part of me was visible.  The first image I had was one of the rescuers hands covered in blood and the mattress that they laid me down and brought me to the hospital on.”

The beginning of Dik’s life was dominated by the harsh reality of World War Two.  He experienced several aerial bombings, the German occupation of Netherlands and the difficult period of time rebuilding after the war.  He is photographed holding a piece of clothing he was wearing when he was pulled out of the debris in Arnhem.  

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Tsukasa Uchida

Sunday, April 12th, 2020

..April 2020.. ..Nagasaki..
I received sad news that Mr. Tsukasa Uchida passed away on April 6th  2020.  He was 90 years old and had been in the hospital for months. 

Mr. Uchida experienced the atomic bombing of Nagasaki when he was 15 years old.  He was rescued from underneath rubble at the Ohashi Plant of the Mitsubishi Arms Factory about a mile north of the hypocenter.  Using a broken stick as a cane he struggled to get away from the burning factory and found refugee on a mountain.

When I photographed Mr. Uchida in 2016 he was in fragile condition but had a sharp mind.  He spoke about his experiences in exact detail for two hours. 

I’m grateful for the opportunity to have met such a brave person.  Mr. Uchida has taught many people about the horrors of nuclear weapons.  His passing is a great loss to humanity. 


“I was heading to the rescue train using a wood stick.
There were rice fields on the way, I found something in there.
On first sight, I thought they were pumpkins, but they were human heads.”
-Tsukasa Uchida

私は木の棒をついて救援列車に向かった。
そこまでの道に田んぼがあり、その中にかぼちゃかなと思ったら、
人間の首が5つか6つ転がっていた。
内田伯

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Haruyo Nihei

Friday, March 6th, 2020

“I survived by the grace of the deceased.
But to stop history from repeating itself I have to speak.”
-Haruyo Nihei, Tokyo firebomb survivor


Mrs. Haruyo Nihei experienced the firebombing of Tokyo on the night of March 10th, 1945.  Bombers carpeted Tokyo with spread incendiary bombs for hours and after the bombing ceased, the city was wrapped in flames. Almost everything burnt in the city.

“The fire died down because there was nothing left to be burnt. I remember walking the site of fire, by stepping over charred bodies”
 
When the bombing started she began to escape with her family, but the flames cornered her and
she was separated from them. The streets were full of panic.  She fell down and fainted. People then piled
on top of her.  She, and others near the bottom of the pile, survived because the people near the top
bore the brunt of the inferno.  

This portrait is a part of my From Above project which featured portraits of atomic bomb and firebombing survivors from WWII. My limited edition book is available at http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i&i2

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Gunther Kannegießer

Thursday, February 13th, 2020

On February 13th, 1945 the baroque city of Dresden, Germany was firebombed into cinder by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The attack was divided into three bombing raids dropping over 4,500 tons of high explosives, including incendiary bombs, onto the city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”

Gunther Kannegießer was never able to recover the bodies of his mother, brother and sister after the bombing of Dresden. For many years he searched lists of mass burial sites for their bodies.


After the fall of the Berlin Wall and Reunification more information became available about the location of mass graves and who was in them. Spending the majority of his life looking for the location of the bodies, he found their names on a document for a mass grave at the Johannisfriedhof Cemetery.


In the back of the cemetery, three stones waist high are erected at the mass grave without any markings or a list of names. After Reunification a small monument was sculpted stating, “Here lays 3,660 civilians who died on February 13th, 1945.” The majority of the bodies in this mass grave were from Dresden Johannstadt, where Mr Kannegießer’s family lived.

This portrait is a part of my From Above project which featured portraits of atomic bomb and firebombing survivors from WWII. My limited edition book is available at https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i=&i2=

A selection of From Above portraits taken in Dresden and also including portraits of firebombing survivors from Coventry and Rotterdam, will be exhibited in the Dresden Neustadt during May. More information will be released closer to the opening.

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Nora Lang

Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

“My father said, “The war will have an awful end. If we are separated from each other, you have to leave the town! Because there will be a battle for the town.”

–Nora Lang

On February 13th, 1945 the baroque city of Dresden, Germany was firebombed into cinder by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The attack was divided into three bombing raids dropping over 4,500 tons of high explosives, including incendiary bombs, onto the city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”

Nora Lang still lives close to where her original home was destroyed.  From her living room window you can see the location of her old house.   She is photographed next to a ruined church, Trinitatiskirche, one street from her home. Nora was 13 1/2 when Dresden was destroyed.  Her family lived in Dresden-Johannstadt.  They survived the first attack by taking shelter in their cellar.  After the first attack they had to leave their burning home and experience hell as they were chased by the firestorm through burning streets.  They tried to find shelter several times during the deadly second and third attack waves which lasted the entire night and didn’t succumb until the next morning.  

This portrait is a part of my From Above project which featured portraits of atomic bomb and firebombing survivors from WWII. My limited edition book is available at https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i=&i2=

A selection of From Above portraits taken in Dresden and also including portraits of firebombing survivors from Coventry and Rotterdam, will be exhibited in the Dresden Neustadt during May.  More information will be released closer to the opening.    

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Lieselotte Jakob

Sunday, February 9th, 2020

“It was the most saddening experience of my life.”

-Lieselotte Jakob

On February 13th, 1945 the baroque city of Dresden, Germany was firebombed into cinder by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force. The attack was divided into three bombing raids dropping over 4,500 tons of high explosives, including incendiary bombs, onto the city known as “Florence on the Elbe.”

Lieselotte Jakob, 24, and her family survived the bombardment by sheltering in their cellar. A bomb detonated directly in their street and the explosion ripped through the neighborhood. The cellar housing Lieselotte and her family was the only one to contain survivors.

After fleeing the cellar, the family headed towards the hospital in the direction of the Elbe River. They attempted to get into another shelter but no one would open their doors to allow them to get safety from the bombs and fire so they walked towards City Hall.

The family walked along the river and saw corpses leaning against walls. Their lungs had collapsed. They arrived at the hospital to find it full of chaos and disorder. Lieselotte suffered from smoke inhalation. She couldn’t speak for 4 weeks.

After the bombings she lived with her grandparents in Dresden. One of her relatives was a solider assigned to cremating bodies in the town square.

Soon afterwards, Lieselotte made her way towards her parent’s farm, situated to the east of Dresden. The journey was long and arduous, but the area was lost to the Red Army, forcing Lieselotte to turn back towards the city. They walked back to Dresden by following in the tracks of other fleeing refugees. Along the way they were twice shot at by planes.

This portrait is a part of my From Above project which featured portraits of atomic bomb and firebombing survivors from WWII. My limited edition book is available at https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm…

A selection of From Above portraits, including portraits of firebombing survivors from Coventry and Rotterdam, will be exhibited in the Dresden Neustadt during May. Further information will be released closer to the opening.

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Masakatsu Obata

Wednesday, January 8th, 2020

..January 2020..        ..Nagasaki..

I received the sad news that Mr. Masakatsu Obata passed away on December 12th, 2019, three days prior to his 102nd birthday.  Mr. Obata was the first hibakusha, atomic bomb survivor, I ever met. 

During our meeting I felt overwhelmed whilest he described his experiences on August 9th, 1945 and the days after.  I had never heard such vivid descriptions of what had happened.  Because it was my first conversation, I was overwhelmed.  I don’t remember much and always have to look back at my notes when speaking about Mr. Obata’s testimony. 

I’ve returned to Nagasaki many times since September 2008 but that was the only time we met. 

When I took this portrait he was already 90 years old.  I remember that he had as much energy as I did.  We walked across to the park near the hypocenter and took the first portrait of what became the From Above project that has defined my career and who I am.  From Above was published as a book and has so far been exhibited on three continents.

I’m grateful for Mr. Obata allowing me to begin my journey learning about the hibakusha and the horrors of nuclear war.  

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