CULTURE & MORE: The human touch of Hiroshima

Miyako Ishiuchi was surprised when an editor asked her to shoot Hiroshima for a photo book. "I wondered, 'Why me?' I'd never even been to Hiroshima," the 61-year-old photographer recalled in a recent interview in Tokyo. "But I decided to go and take a look."

After arriving in Hiroshima, she said, she took pictures of "all kinds of things," from landscapes and bomb-blasted buildings to the belongings of the victims.

"After shooting all these things, I decided that if I was going to take on the project, I wanted to concentrate on the mementos of the bomb victims."

Ishiuchi's photo collection "Hiroshima" was published in April and a photo exhibition based on the book "Hiroshima: Strings of Time" is being held through Aug. 10 at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. On display are about 40 color photos of personal effects--blouses, skirts and glasses. Some were severely damaged, but many retain their original colors. All were worn by victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

How did Ishiuchi choose the items?

About 19,000 objects are kept at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Some are on exhibit and others are stored in the basement. Ishiuchi selected items that had been worn by victims--and had been in contact with the skin--at the time of the blast.

Almost all of the items she photographed were not available for public viewing.

Much of the clothing belonged to women, including summer dresses, underwear and blouses.

"I felt an affinity to women's clothing," she said. "When I first saw them, I was moved. Many were still in good condition and had retained their original, vibrant colors."

She placed the dresses and other items gently on a light box she had brought with her and photographed them.

"I thought about the way the clothes had been woven, cut and sewn together, the appearance of the garment when it was worn on that fateful morning," she wrote in the afterword of "Hiroshima."

"Other photographers have taken photos of the personal effects of A-bomb victims. But they are all in black and white," she said. "I thought I would show the true color of the garments."

During her stay in Hiroshima for the current exhibition, reporters from TV stations and newspapers asked Ishiuchi about the "message" behind her photographs. "Everyone asked the same question," she recalled. "But all I could do is to present what I saw.

"Under ordinary circumstances, it would be strange to find everyday skirts and dresses in a museum's collection. Why do these items still exist? Why are they photographed? Ultimately, it is because of the atomic bombing. Behind these items is a dreadful incident. That's obvious. I just want people to see them as they are. There are things you can understand simply by looking at the photos."

Ishiuchi said her 2002 photo book "Mother's" may have led her to "Hiroshima." During an exhibition of photos from the book, an editor approached her about the Hiroshima project.

With the "Mother's" collection--photos of her late mother's belongings and closeups of her body parts before death--Ishiuchi became the first female photographer to represent Japan at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005.

Born in Gunma Prefecture in 1947 and raised in Yokosuka, Ishiuchi studied at Tama Art University. She wanted to be a designer.

"It was during the Tokyo Olympics (in 1964) when I heard the word 'designer' for the first time. I was in high school. It sounded cool," she said, laughing.

Yet, she says she was too awkward to be a designer. Also, the '60s were a time of fervent student activism. Amid the social upheaval, Ishiuchi dropped out of school.

Her encounter with photography came by chance. When Ishiuchi was in her late 20s, a friend asked her to store some photographic and darkroom equipment, saying she could try it out if she wanted.

"Some of my friends were photographers, so I learned by watching," she said. She was soon hooked, especially with darkroom techniques.

"I'd always wanted to express myself somehow, but I wasn't able to find a way," she said. "What I like about photography is that I can do it by myself."

In the beginning, she concentrated on landscapes of Yokosuka and Yokohama where she spent her childhood.

"My early three works ("Apartment" in 1978, "Yokosuka Story" in 1979, and "Endless Night" in 1981) were like a dam breaking--I was finally able to let go of negative feelings I was holding onto deep inside my heart," she said.

In 1979, Ishiuchi won the prestigious Kimura Ihei Award and job offers followed. But she said she has never enjoyed commercial photography.

"My first job was to take photos of landscapes of a city in America," she said. "I wondered why I had come to this faraway land to take pictures. I didn't think I was necessary for the job."

Working as an office worker at the time, she decided she would only photograph things that interested her, and only on weekends.

In 1990, Ishiuchi published "1・9・4・7," a collection of photos of the hands and feet of women also born in 1947. Gradually, her photos gained recognition overseas. When her prints began to sell, she quit her job to make her living with her camera.

From street scenes and body parts to mementos and scars, her themes have changed.

Yet, she says there is a common theme.

"The subjects of my photos often have negative images," Ishiuchi said. She mentioned her exhibition "Innocence." "The photos of the scars on the women's body looked painful to some people. But to me, aesthetically, they look beautiful."

Finally, the photographer's life journey took her to Hiroshima

"Hiroshima is the greatest scar on mankind. But the memory of the incident is fading," she said. "While human life is limited, those personal items from the victims will last for a long time. They have been preserved for 63 years and will continue to be for years to come. I wanted to show the reality, the sorrow and the weight of being."

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Miyako Ishiuchi Exhibition "Hiroshima: Strings of Time" until Aug. 10 at the

Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (082-264-1121).

Miyako Ishiuchi Exhibition

"Hiroshima/Yokosuka" from Nov. 15-Jan. 11 at the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo (03-3714-1201).(IHT/Asahi: July 18,2008)