..February 2012.. ..Nagasaki..
Sad news from Nagasaki. Mr. Akio Sakita, an atomic bomb survivor I photographed for From Above, passed away earlier this month from pneumonia. He was 83 years old.
Mr. Sakita was the last portrait I photographed on the initial trip to Nagasaki. An hour after I snapped his photograph I was on a train back to Tokyo. I wanted my memories of Nagasaki to be the eleven people I photographed during the trip. I started photographing in Nagasaki as soon as I arrived and photographed until the last minute I was there.
Mr. Sakita was soft spoken. At times his voice could barely be heard. He paused often for long moments to finish sentences. But the smile in his portrait was one of the most welcoming images of the project.
When I returned to Nagasaki a year later to present From Above as an exhibition at the Nagasaki Peace Museum, Mr. Sakita was the first person to greet me at the gallery opening. He arrived even before the press. I wasn’t sure he was going to attend because he was in fragile health. When I saw him at the gallery it was like seeing an old friend I hadn’t expected to see. We were able to speak for a while and look through the photographs together. This was the first time any of the atomic bomb survivors were able to see the other portraits in the project. They had only seen their own portraits before.
I said good bye to him at the exit of the Nagasaki Peace Museum. I watched him walk alone through the pouring rain of Japan’s famous “rainy season.” When he disappeared out of sight into the horizon I gave my last bow out of respect. This was the last time I saw Mr. Sakita. The moment was captured by a Community Media cameraman shooting a documentary about From Above. I’ve attached the documentary at the end. Mr. Sakita makes his exit at 8:30 into the documentary. It’s moment I will always remember. Almost half of the hibakusha photographed for From Above have now passed away.
From Above By Paule Saviano from paul saviano on Vimeo.