Documentary filmed by Community Media about From Above when I was photographing in Nagasaki.
From Above By Paule Saviano from paul saviano on Vimeo.
Archive for the ‘Hibakusha’ Category
Senji Yamaguchi
Friday, January 25th, 2013Keiji Nakazawa, author of Barefoot Gen
Tuesday, December 25th, 2012..December 2012.. ..New York to Hiroshima..
“I want to give more information to children,
to help them learn the reality of war and nuclear weapons.
I hope the next generation hates war.
I want them to learn the importance of peace.”
-Keiji Nakazawa, November 2010
The world has lost another important voice for peace. Today I received the sad news that Mr. Keiji Nakazawa passed away on December 19th at the age of 73. I photographed Mr. Nakazawa two years ago in Hiroshima for From Above. It was one of the last portraits taken before the book deadline.
Mr. Nakazawa was a world renowned magna artist most known for creating the Barefoot Gen series which chronicled the life of a boy who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath.
Mr. Nakazawa was in fragile condition when I photographed him. I was fortunate to have the opportunity because he had been in and out of the hospital. He seemed most proud that Barefoot Gen was translated into 10 different languages so audiences worldwide could learn about the dangers of nuclear weapons. More that 6.5 million copies of the series have been sold.
On August 6th 1945, Keiji Nakazawa, 6 years old, was walking to school when the atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. He was 1.2km from the hypocenter. His father, sister and younger brother all perished during the bombing. Only his mother and two brothers, who were not at home, survived. His infant sister, born days after the bombing, also died soon after.
Mr. Nakazawa was one of those people who I will never forget photographing.
FROM ABOVE featured on the John Batchelor Show- WABC Radio
Sunday, December 23rd, 2012..December 2012.. ..New York..
My interview from earlier this year with talk show host John Batchelor was broadcast again on WABC Radio this weekend. It was the first US interview about FROM ABOVE, my limited edition book featuring portraits and testimonials of atomic bomb survivors and firebombing survivors from Dresden and Tokyo.
The interview can now be heard on the web at this link:
http://podfuse-dl.andomedia.com/800185/podfuse-origin.andomedia.com/citadel_origin/pods/WABC/WABC-Batchelor/jbs_102911b.mp3
The book can be purchased in the US, Japan and Europe from this links:
http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=I1040
There is only one edition of the book printed and there is a limited amount remaining.
Hiroshi Matsuzoe, atomic bomb survivor from Nagasaki
Friday, October 26th, 2012..October 2012.. ..Nagasaki..
Earlier this year, Mainichi newspaper ran a story about atomic bomb survivor Hiroshi Matsuzoe, who I photographed in Nagasaki for my book From Above.
Last April he had an operation on his throat to removed a cancer. He lost his voice. From September, he has been training on an electronic device to speak again. He has been quite successful and on the day of the newspaper report, April 26, he was having his first lecture after the cancer operation.
‘I’m getting a little tense, ’cause I’m a bit afraid that I can’t speak well enough. But, I speak for the elimination of the nuclear weapons.’ through the machine, his voice was powerful.”
Seeds from an Aogiri tree that survivied the atomic bomb in Hiroshima
Monday, August 20th, 2012
Nagasaki…500 feet above my head….
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012..September 2008 Nagasaki, Japan..
….500 feet above my head the 2nd atomic bomb detonated on August 9th, 1945. Blood, fire, black rain, and heat engulfed everywhere around me. For a split second the temperature at the epicenter reached 1 million degrees.
….100 feet to my right corpses piled on the river creating a dam of death that stopped the flow of water. The Urakami Cathedral a 1/2 mile down the street collapsed and fell down a hillside. Part of the tower still sits at the bottom.
The world had gone MAD. Never have we witnessed the level of insanity experienced in 1945. What did we do here? Nothing can justify this atrocity. To think this could happen again terrifies me.
..2nd day in Nagasaki at the epicenter of the atomic bomb, I don’t think the entire story has ever been told or ever will be comprehended.
August 6th, 2012 New York to Hiroshima
Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
Hibakusha visiting the Twisted Gun sculpture
Monday, August 6th, 2012
Hypocenter Hiroshima
Friday, August 3rd, 2012
Seeds from an Aogiri tree that survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima
Sunday, July 29th, 2012..June 2012.. ..New York to Hiroshima..
I’m planting seeds in New York that came from an Aogiri tree that survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
