The New York Times printed my portrait of Shigeko Sasamori, a well known atomic bomb survivor who died this week in Los Angeles. It’s my first portrait of an atomic bomb survivor that they’ve ever published. I’m proud that a larger audience will know about Shigeko because her life deserves attention. After everything she endured, she still gave empathy to the world every moment of every day.
https://www.nytimes.com/…/asia/shigeko-sasamori-dead.html
I received the sad news that Shigeko Sasamori passed away in her sleep this week at the age of 92. Shigeko was 13 years old when the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima and suffered deadly injuries. She was so badly burned that she was unrecognizable. Her father found her days after because she kept repeating her name. In 1955, Shigeko was chosen to be part of a small group of young girls called the Hiroshima Maidens. They were brought to New York to have reconstructive plastic surgeries. Shigeko immigrated and lived the majority of her life in Los Angeles.
I photographed Shigeko while she visited New York through Hibakusha Stories to speak with students at high schools and universities. Hibakusha Stories gave several hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) the opportunity to communicate with thousands of students for almost a decade.
The first photograph is of Shigeko dancing with students at Hunter College, and the other is with high school students at Brooklyn Friends during 2013. It was amazing to see the connection each hibakusha had with students who were 60 years younger than them. The attention and respect that the students had was surprising. I often wonder after all these years if they still realize how lucky they were to have met hibakusha like Shigeko.
I’ve never exhibited photographs of Shigeko in any of the From Above exhibitions. Maybe because my time around her dictated that the photographs were more documentary than the portraits in the project. It feels like I took these photographs yesterday, but more than a decade has passed. I’m grateful for that small amount of time Shigeko allowed me to be there with my camera.
..May 2014.. ..New York..
Atomic bomb survivor and Hiroshima Maiden Shigeko Sasamori poses with a New York City high school student who sketched a portrait of her.
Shigeko survived was 13 years old when the atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. She was so severely burned that she was unrecognizable. During 1955 she was brought to New York along with 25 other young girls for reconstructive surgery.
..August 2013.. ..Tokyo..
Hibakusha, atomic bomb survivors, Mrs. Reiko Yamada and Mrs. Shigeko Sasamori in front of the portrait of Mrs. Yamada and Mrs. Miller.
A small selection of new portraits of hibakusha, atomic bomb survivors, from Hiroshima and Nagasaki are being exhibited for the rest of the summer at Gallery EF in Tokyo. Copies of my book are also on display for everyone to look at.
This is the link to the event at Gallery EF.
http://www.gallery-ef.com/fa_library13.html
..May 2013.. ..New York..
Clifton Truman Daniel, the eldest grandson of President Harry Truman, with atomic bomb survivor Shigeko Sasamori.
Mrs. Sasamori was 13 years old when the atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima. She was so badly burned that she was unrecognizable. During 1955, she was brought to NY for reconstructive plastic surgery with a group of 25 young girls known as the “Hiroshima Maidens.” Mrs. Sasamori now resides in the US and has dedicated her life to the abolition of nuclear weapons.
