“As a doctor who survived the atomic bomb, I have many missions to go on.
Till today, I lived for that mission.
If I don’t continue talking about the fierce
and unknown diseases caused by radiation; we will not find a cure.”
-Dr. Shuntaro Hida
Dr. Hida experienced the atomic bomb when he was 28 years old, at a patient’s home 6km from the hypocenter. He treated the wounded immediately after the bomb detonated. Fortunately he was not at The Hiroshima Military Hospital at the time because it was only 300m from the hypocenter.
Recognizing that he would be needed to treat the wounded, he dashed on his bicycle threading his way against the tide of the people escaping the surrounding areas outside of Hiroshima. Finally he reached the city, but he could not get near the hospital. In just 30 minutes, the flames engulfed the entire city.
Dr. Hida dedicated his life to treating atomic bomb survivors. He retired from medicine at the age of 92. He passed away on March 20th, 2017 at the age of 100. I photographed Dr. Hida in 2010 at his home in Saitama, Japan. The photograph almost didn’t happen because he had been ill with pneumonia. Luckily he was released from the hospital on the last day of my trip. He was the only doctor I photographed for the project.
This portrait is a part of my From Above project which a collection of portraits and reminiscences of atomic bomb and firebombing survivors from the Second World War. From Above is permanently exhibited at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims. It has also been exhibited in numerous international museums and exhibition spaces, including at the United Nations in New York and most recently in Dresden, Germany. From Above was released as a limited edition book available at https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040&i=&i2=
