Lost in Fukushima

I have been taking pictures of Fukushima since the disaster hit the prefecture in March 2011. The first series of my Fukushima project "Lost in Fukushima" consists of pictures which I took in the first year after the disaster. Reflecting this series, now in 2014, I feel that it was the beginning of a long way to go for Fukushima and all of us without knowing where to go.... Spring 2011. Even sea gulls stopped to gather at the fishing port hit by the highest tsunami this time. During the spring tide, sea water entered into the depth of the low land areas and fantastic fog lay thickly above them. On the other hand, in a mountaneous village, where all the villagers evacuated for fear of the hazardous influences of the nuclear power plant accidents, rice fields dried up in May, although they normally shine like mirrors in this season. In summer, they were covered by grasses and no one could tell where rice fields and footpaths ought to be. I heard the voices of the things lost and being lost. The new year began, and in the seaside town, where recovery measures were taken particularly quicky, their remains were totally removed and vacant land spread as far as I could see and the voices still rose out of nowhere. The mountaneous village, where everything was covered with snow, it seemed peaceful as if they had been just waiting for the coming of the spring, but in fact, old houses and small huts as well as sheds for animals started to show their weakness and fall into ruin, probably getting tired of waiting for their masters. When we lost them, we were lost by them at the same time. We are lost. The feeling of absolute emptiness between the two sides cannnot be talked about together with hope for tomorrow and cannot be compensated for by anything. Trapped by this feeling, people lose any sense of gravity and time and we are just at a loss what to do and where to go. In this series , I would like to look at extreme loneliness, despair and grief, from which people cannot easily escape after a catastrophic incident like Fukushima. This series has been exhibited both at home and abroad, including the slide show projection, 16th Voies Off Festival, Arles, France, 2011, and in the joinet exhibition with Michele Mattiello "Conseguenze. Vajont e Fukushima" held at Villa Breda, Padua, and Mulino di Ampiano (as a part of Spilimbergo Fotografia 2014) both in 2014 in Italy. Some are in the collection of Fukushima Museum.