Fading Memories
3/11 Kids Photo Journal
Debris from the tsunami is being cleaned up; damaged buildings are being taken down. No doubt various parts of Japan are steadily heading towards recovery. What is left behind has been a constant reminder of the earthquake and one of the biggest tsunamis in Japan’s history. To the people who’ve been living there for years, the debris was their connection with the past, keeping their memories intact. Now that the debris is being removed, their past is fading away. Going back and forth to Tohoku over the last year, I feel this is as much a time of recovery as it is the erosion of individual and collective memories.
Looking at the second year of 3/11 Kids Photo Journal, much has changed. We have worked towards publishing the photographs of the 29 children from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima at the center of this project--many who have joined us along the way--in newspaper form. The photographs they have taken have become a unique testimony revealing how each of the affected areas is moving on. Even as professionals who have always worked with photography, these children’s creations remind us of the role of photography as documentary, as a record of life.
Perhaps it's only through the younger generation that we can stop memories from fading and allow them to be passed on.. We believe sooner or later when they grow up, they might look back at the photos they took, at the words they have written, and be happy that they participated.
A Look at Fukushima
3/11 Kids Photo Journal
In the many areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, people have been working hard to decontaminate their towns from radiation, hoping to bring back life as it once was. The scenery remains as beautiful as it always was, but life has changed completely. In other areas, those close to the coast which were badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, including some which had been designated unsafe to enter because of radiation, the clean up will start this spring, debris will be hauled away and infrastructure replaced.
Months of living at evacuation shelters have had a strong effect on adults as well as children, as they constantly looking for a place to be, constantly trying to adapt to a new environment. It has been a long year for each and everyone who calls Fukushima home.
They live their lives thinking about the friends and families they have had said goodbye to. Not knowing what the future holds or when they’ll return home, when Fukushima will go back to the way it used to be.
Looking at the second year of 3/11 Kids Photo Journal, much has changed. We have worked towards publishing the photographs of the 29 children from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima at the center of this project--many who have joined us along the way--in newspaper form.
The photographs they have taken have become a unique testimony revealing how each of the affected areas is moving on. Even as professionals who have always worked with photography, these children’s creations remind us of the role of photography as documentary, as a record of life.
Perhaps it's only through the younger generation that we can stop memories from fading and allow them to be passed on.
We believe sooner or later when they grow up, they might look back at the photos they took, at the words they have written, and be happy that they participated.
Produced by Yumi Goto
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