..September 2008 Nagasaki..
..It’s time I start to figure out who I am..
Instead of telling people where I am..
“Our World is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace.”
Gen. Omar Bradley
November 11, 1948
..January 2016 The Woman outside the White House..
Earlier today Concepcion Picciotto, the woman who maintained a three decade long vigil in front of the White House protesting the use of nuclear weapons, passed away.
I’ve seen her sitting in snow up to her waist and sweating in the oppressive August humidity. She out lasted 4 Presidents who slept about 100 yards away in the Lincoln Bedroom inside a mansion called the White House. I’ve been carrying a business card she handed me the first time I met her. It has shoved into the corner of my camera bag for 19 years.
Just weeks before atomic bomb survivor Mrs. Hisayo Yamashita passed away in 2010, she had asked me to bring a large package of socks, gloves and blankets from Japan to Mrs. Picciotto in Washington, DC.
“We cannot listen to the voices that vanished near the hypocenter.
No matter how many testimonies I gather, a blank will remain.”
-Masahito Hirose
Today I received the sad news that Mr. Masahito Hirose passed away, two months before his 86th birthday. I photographed Mr. Hirose on my second trip to Nagasaki. He was 15 years old when the atomic bomb destroyed the city. He didn’t sustain any external injuries from the blast but suffered from cancer.
After the H-Bomb test on Bikini Atoll in 1954, Mr. Hirose devoted his life to collecting the testimonies of other hibaksuha (atomic bomb survivors). While recording the stories it allowed him to confront his own tragic experiences.
Mr. Hirose spoke fluent English so he was one of the few hibakusha I was able to speak with directly. His language skills were important because he was one of the first to translate the hibakusha’s testimony into English. When I first read about him I immiediately asked if I could meet him. I have always been grateful for his honesty and time.
He will be missed but never forgotten.
..January 2016.. ..New York..
Some holiday cards from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden and Rotterdam that I received from survivors I photographed for the From Above project.
..September 2015.. ..Usti nad Labem..
An article about the From Above exhibition featuring portraits of atomic bomb and WWII firebombing survivors at the Muzeum mesta Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. The exhibitions runs until January 17th, 2016.
http://ustecky.denik.cz/kultura_region/muzeum-priblizuje-osudy-hibakusa-20150819.html
From Above
August 19, 2015-January 17, 2016
Muzeum mesta Usti nad Labem
Masarykova 1000/3
A small amount of limited edition From Above books are still available at PhotoEye.com:
http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i&i2
It’s a limited edition so once these copies are sold there will not be any more available.
..August 2015.. ..Usti nad Labem..
Some photos from the opening of From Above exhibition poster at the Muzeum mesta Usti nad Labem featuring portraits of atomic bomb survivors and WWII fire bombing survivors. Thank you to the museum staff for sending over these. I regret not being able to attend the exhibition but am extremely thankful of everyone’s effort in the Czech Republic for hosting this exhibition.
From Above will be exhibited for 5 months. This is the longest From Above exhibit so far.
From Above
August 19, 2015-January 17, 2016
Muzeum mesta Usti nad Labem
Masarykova 1000/3
www.muzeumusti.cz
There are also about 10 remaining From Above books so if you’re interested it can be bough exclusively from this link. It’s a limited edition so once these copies are sold there will not be any more available.
http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i&i2
..August 2015.. ..Usti nad Labem..
From Above exhibition poster at the Muzeum mesta Usti nad Labem featuring portraits of atomic bomb survivors and WWII fire bombing survivors.
August 19, 2015-January 17, 2016
Muzeum mesta Usti nad Labem
Masarykova 1000/3
www.muzeumusti.cz
..July 2015..
A recent From Above exhibition featuring portraits of atomic bomb survivors.
