Yesterday the Asahi newspaper in Nagasaki included my opinion about the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which was enacted as international law on January 22nd. A big thank you to Mizuki Enomoto for asking me to contribute to her article.
I began photographing atomic bomb survivors (hibakusha) in 2008 and will continue to do so until the last voice goes silent. In 2011 these portraits were published as a book, From Above. Everyday I think about the people I met in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Most have passed but their memory lives on when the treaty banning nuclear weapons arrives.
“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.
..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
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.
“After the war I saw the photo of the mushroom cloud, but I thought they should have shown photos of the people underneath. It’s a bloody shame!” -Ron Schlote
A few weeks ago I was informed that Mr. Ron Scholte passed away last autumn at the age of 94.
Ron Scholte was serving in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) when he was taken as a prison of war by the Japanese when they invaded Java in 1942 and later sent to Fukuoka Camp 14 in Nagasaki. He was used as a forced laborer until the end of the war in August 1945. He was one of 120 Dutch POWs to survive the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
I had the privilege of photographing Mr. Scholte in January 2015. I had learned about his story and it took me a long time to find him. Even on the day of our meeting my train connections to the southern Netherlands were delayed because of a small snowstorm in Amsterdam. I arrived at his home as the sunset, hours late, and snapped this photograph when I caught him glimpsing out a window as I walked to the front door.
I didn’t think this would be the portrait I would use in the project. But as time passed and I thought about his story it made sense. When I look at this photograph, he is beginning to fade away in the reflection of the landscape. A few years prior, he had begun writing down his experiences in Nagasaki because he was diagnosed with dementia. The story was too important to be lost in his fading mind so I’m grateful he had documented his experiences in great detail. That day he was able to speak for hours about what he had seen in Nagasaki.
He was living alone but shortly after my visit was moved to an elderly home as his mind rapidly deteriorated. He lived a little less than four years after we met.
Not many people know that there were Dutch POW’s affected by the atomic bomb. Most of them died from various forms of cancer within ten years of 1945. The majority of Dutch people I speak to about Mr. Schlote and Mr. Buchel, the other Dutch POW I photographed, are shocked to learn about their stories.
..Where I realized how to love people..By myself..by the river…6PM sunset 1 block from hypocenter.. ..Where I realized why I traveled across the world to meet these people..Where I found emotion in Nagasaki..
..The first time I saw the reflection in the small stream running next to the epicenter, this was when the devastation hit me. It’s one of the most moving photos I took. Peaceful but remorseful.
..I first saw the reflection of the archway in the shallow water. As August 9th, 1945 grew older the pile of bodies multiplied in the canal. Eventually making a dam of corpses which stopped the running water. The corpses piled almost to the top of the 20 foot archway.
Along with the reflection of the archway, I can see the reflection of innocent that didn’t need to die. Why did this happen? It didn’t need to. This image has more of an effect on me than the epicenter. How can a scene so peaceful be a grave 64 years ago?
..Where I realized what happened. Where I realized war is fucking shit..that kills the innocent..
..Nagasaki September 7th,2008.. One hour after train ride, little before sunset. First time at the hypocenter
..I thought the hypocenter would have drawn more of a crowd. Only 2 ladies and a father playing with his son wandering across the spot where one of the world’s greatest atrocities took place. The grass was very thin and spotted yellow from a summer long soaking of intense sunshine. Looked like any park in a forgotten neighborhood.
..September 8th, 2007 Second time at the epicenter, Nagasaki.. Walked to the epicenter at 6:30AM. A Japanese man walking across the park. Stops and bows in front of the monument. A deep bow. A sign of great respect. Continues to his destination. I wonder if this is how he starts most of his days?
“In 2014 I was officially recognized as an hibakusha by the Japanese government. It’s gratifying that the Japanese government recognized that I was there when the atomic bomb was detonated because the Dutch government didn’t care about any of the Dutch who were in Nagasaki. Soon after I visited Nagasaki together with my three daughters. I wanted to show them some of the places I had been during the war to let them know what kind of impact the experience had on my life. But I didn’t tell them the most severe details. I haven’t told my story to many people because it is so intense.” -Willy Buchel van Steenbergen
I received the sad news that atomic bomb survivor Willy Buchel van Steenbergen passed away on July 10th. He was 99 years old. I photographed him at his home in Waalre, Netherlands. Mr. Buchel was one of two former Dutch POW’s who experienced the atomic bomb in Nagasaki who I photographed during 2015.
Mr. Buchel was serving in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) when he was taken as a prison of war by the Japanese when they invaded Java in 1942 (at the time Java was a part of the Dutch East Indies) and later sent to Fukuoka Camp 14 in Nagasaki. He was used as a forced laborer until the end of the war in August 1945. He was one of 120 Dutch POW’s to survive the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
There were two camps holding Dutch POW’s in Nagasaki. Fukuoka Camp 14 was located near the Nagasaki Station. It was close to the hypocenter and heavily damaged. Most of the POW’s who survived the bombing lived less than ten years after. Most likely perishing from the effects of radiation exposure.
Mr. Buchel’s
experiences were very unique because he not only survived the atomic
bomb but also because of his heritage. After WWII his story became more
complicated when the Dutch lost the colonial war in what is now
Indonesia.
“All of my family in the Dutch East Indies survived
the Japanese Occupation during the war.
My father contracted tuberculous and didn’t have to go to an internment
camp because the Japanese quarantined the sick.
A mark was drawn on the house to signal someone was ill. My mother, who considered herself Dutch,
didn’t have to go to the camps either because the she was half Indonesian. The Japanese considered her Indonesian.
I came to the Netherlands in 1950. There was a colonial war between the Netherlands and the native Indonesians in the Dutch East Indies immediately after WWII. When the Dutch lost its colony I couldn’t remain in the place where I was born and grew up. I lost my country and fatherland. Many who came here had the same feeling. After many years I went to visit the area where I was born – it was very different.”
I had heard about former Dutch POW’s who experienced the atomic bomb. It took me years to find Mr. Buchel. When my contact got permission from him to meet, my trip had to be delayed days before my departure because he was hospitalized with ammonia. Then during a snowy morning in January 2015 I finally met him. That morning I sat in the Amsterdam train station waiting hours for my delayed train thinking that it might not happen. But the winter sun burst through and melted the snow on the tracks.
In the years after, I’ve spoken to many Dutch people who have no idea there were Dutch atomic bomb survivors. All of them were surprised when I told them about Mr. Buchel. There was a book written in Dutch about Fukuoka Camp 14 but it went out of print shortly after it was published either in the 1960’s or 1970’s.
I was fortunate to have met Mr. Buchel. He wrote me letters which usually arrived at my home around the holidays. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to call him my friend. I’ve posted a portrait of him at his home and another of him holding my Hasselblad camera.
..March 2019.. ..Nagasaki..
The Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims will
be permanently exhibiting 15 portraits that I took of Nagasaki atomic
bomb survivors.
These are part of the From Above project which features portraits of atomic bomb survivors and WWII firebombing survivors.
I’m very proud these portraits will be displayed permanently at Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for all the visitors to see. The Peace Memorial Hall is attached to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
