..November 2010.. ..Hiroshima..
“I did not even think I had been saved.
I was filled with hate for a long time.
But now, I devote my life to telling others my story.
It is my responsibility to teach younger generations
about the dignity of life and the importance of peace.”
-Suzuko Numata, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor
Mrs. Yamashita at Gallery EF, Last Goodbye, November 2010
“With gratitude of life, I live my life as strong as I can.
And for the sake of people who were forced to end life at that moment,
it is my role to make the world go around.” –Mrs. Hisayo Yamashita
“I attend the memorial service every year on August 9th,
to apologize to the people I had to stand by and watch die.” –Mr. Hisanobu Murozono
Mrs. Chisa Tanimoto
“I did not even think I had been saved.
I was filled with hate for a long time.
But now, I devote my life to telling others my story.
It is my responsibility to teach younger generations
about the dignity of life and the importance of peace.” –Mrs. Suzuko Numata
“Among humankind’s abilities, it is said imagination is the weakest and forgetfulness the strongest.” —Mr. Akihiro Takahashi
..July 2011.. ..Hiroshima..
I received the sad news Mrs. Suzuko Numata passed away on July 12th, 2011, at age of 87.
She was an atomic bomb survivor, an Hibakuska, I photographed during November 2010. I spent many hours with her at the elderly home listening to her story. She was one of the kindest people I’ve ever stumbled upon.
There is a famous photo of her taken soon after the atomic bombing showing her amputated leg. But, I hope the portrait I took of her months before her passing demonstrate how warm and caring a person she was.
She passed away three weeks before the release of From Above, the book that will include her portrait. I’m sorry she will not be here to see her portrait. I consider myself lucky to be able to share her stories through the portrait and words in the book.
Mrs. Numata is the 5th person to pass away since I began photographing the project 3 years ago.
