Recently, I visited the city of Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture. Since the natural disasters of 3/11, I feel tense when I visit the Tohoku region. While pondering the weight of those events, I’m wary as I take in the sights and sounds of the area. I arrived in Kamaishi around 9:00pm. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, so I walked around town in search of a place to eat.
After the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami hit, many photographers, motivated by a sense of responsibility, took photos of the area from a variety of perspectives and shared them with the world. Those are the proper actions of photographers, but conversely, the inability to take this action can be seen as a failure for a photographer. Truth be told, I was not able to act. Unfortunately, it was something I just couldn’t face.
About 6 months ago, a well-known photographer showed me his unpublished shots of Tohoku. The impact of those photos left an indelible impression on me. Compared to other photos I had seen of Tohoku, they were powerful because of the different aspects presented. I had to ask the photographer why he hadn’t published such excellent work.
He replied, “If I were a news cameraman, I would have shared them without concern. But I am a photographer. These are not photos I took as much as photos that I was allowed to take due to the power of the circumstances. In that respect, these are not really my photos to do with as I please.”
In my eyes, a photo was a means of expression of a certain subject. If there were no initial subject for the photograph, it was my belief that there was no point for its existence. However, a true photographer has the power to create a subject in an ever-changing world.
At 10:00pm in Kamaishi’s fishing port almost all of the shops are closed, but I found one with a warm light welcoming me off the street. Cold and hungry, I hastily entered the restaurant. I don’t drink alcohol, and said to the master, “Around here at this time of night, I imagine I’m the only one looking for a meal. I don’t need a menu, please just give me anything.” I received a heaping mountain of sashimi and hot miso soup. My subject took shape; I had to see it to shoot it.
