Exposure. "My mother said that it was a typically quiet day, warm and windy. She and my father opened the window and they felt completely safe on the day of the explosion, the 26th of April, 1986." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "I was born just 5 months after the day of the explosion. I was a very sickly child and I remember feeling like something was wrong, not growing like a normal child. When I was born, I was quickly admitted into the intensive care unit. I had cramps and I was very weak. I spent half of my childhood in the hospital without receiving a diagnosis. I was treated for bronchitis, then pneumonia, and then neuroses. There was no reason to check my thyroid..." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "You might think there should be nothing from Chernobyl in my identity because I was not born at the time of the explosion. I was in my mother's belly and I did not yet exist in the outside world." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "I did not have the opportunity to be active. Children who were born in the year of Chernobyl were the most adversely affected. I was lying in the hospital, without my mother all the time. That is, perhaps, reflected in my character today." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "My biggest fear was always that I might not be able to meet the expectations of my family. They hope that I will have my own family and children, that I will have a good job, be a socially active person, and that I will be able to help people...But I just couldn't be like that. Yet, I had no right to let them down. I would bring shame to my family. This was my biggest fear." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "There are so many beautiful things in the world. I wanted to paint, I wanted to be an artist who would present and show the world's beauty. And at this point in my life, I did not think I could be. It frightened me terribly." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "The symptoms became strong when I was 19 years old. I had a very strong heartbeat and it accelerated. A normal rhythm is 60-70 beats per minute; mine was beating at 120-130 and this caused a very strong tremor in my hands. I was studying to be an architect and I realized that the tremors were preventing me from working, preventing me from completing my course of studies. I could not understand the reason." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016.
Exposure. "My grandmother became disabled in a very early stage of life. It had nothing to do with Chernobyl. But then my aunt became disabled. And for me, the word 'disabled' is terrible, full of stigma. That's what I faced every day and my family saw it. It's still, for me, a great discomfort, very frightening. It's significant that the word is placed next to my name. It really bothers me, and caused me to reject having a disabled certificate for a long time. I thought, if the word was written next to my name, then I could go no further. I know it's weird, but I had a sort of feeling that the word would bury me." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016
Exposure. "I had an operation when I was 24 years. First we tried alternative medicine to try to preserve what had already been destroyed, what had already been killed. When I was offered the surgery, I was so scared inside. I had to choose some special day, to be less afraid. So, I was operated on my birthday, September 24th. I came up with a story to calm myself down: I could not die during the operation if it was my birthday. I could not die on the day of my birth. I would just go to sleep and then wake up and be around my family and guests, and they'd all be there with balloons, and flowers, and they would be there to support me. The physicians were very surprised and instead said, "Yes, peacefully enjoy your birthday and then we'll operate later." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016
Exposure. "I go to a therapist because it turned out that I have a lot of significant issues with my parents. Because when all this happened, I blamed myself very much...Recently, I realized that I was not guilty. This is nobody's fault. I'm working on it, and everything is much better. I understand that all the worst is over, and now I'm trying to reestablish contact with my parents." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016
Exposure. © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016
Exposure. "I became a painter. I now understand that this is my path, and it is my calling, so to speak. And I now know exactly why I didn't fall outside of the canvas. I know exactly what I have to do. I have managed to begin something and I'm not overwhelmed by life itself. It's a completely different quality of work, when you can start something controlled and it doesn't crumble into dust. This is amazing." © Kazuma Obara. Finalist, Magnum Photography Awards 2016