Blog Galerie Priska Pasquer

The French newspaper published five interviews with Japanese artists on the earthquake:

“One month after the earthquake – five Japanese artists give account”, Le Figaro, April 4, 2011

SHOMEI TOMATSU
PHOTOGRAPHE

Born in 1930, he is known for his series on Nagasaki ten years after the bombing of the city in 1945.

“Civilization went too fast”

“On March 11th, I was in Okinawa, quite far from the north and from the disaster. I watched some of the images of the disaster on TV. I did not want to look at the cascades of images. The reality is far more difficult than the mere visions of these sunken villages. It is impossible to translate such a drama into words. The fact that there are so many victims is in itself a turning point for Japan. Nature’s force, incredible, reminds mankind of the great damage it has inflicted upon it. It is quite different from Hiroshima and Nagasaki: it was a bomb. In Nagasaki, I had seen and followed all these victims (Nagasaki and Scars series). This time, radioactivity spreads in an invisible, unpalpable way, a different kind of menace, less spectacular, slower. It is the defeat of Sciences loosing control, the defeat of the civilization that went too fast, the eye opener of our reliance on nuclear energy. What can we do? It might be wise to consider getting rid of these plants, even if I can offer no other scientific or concrete solution in return.

Nuclear electricity was perceived as a progress for civilization. The problem with scientific discoveries is that they are limitless.”

RINKO KAWAUCHI
PHOTOGRAPHE

Born in 1972, her work was shown at the Fondation Cartier and at ParisPhoto in 2008.

“Like a spiritual test”

“I was in Tokyo on March 11th, at home near Shibuya (the very lively downtown). I was working on the printing of some of my images. I thought: “The Big One is about to happen, finally!”

I knew that Tokyo could experience a major earthquake in the near future. The image that will stick to my mind after the drama is the tsunami sweeping everything away, houses and cars. It was much quieter than I ever imagined it would be. Not being there, I had the reflex to shoot my TV screen as it was showing images of rescue teams spreading water over the nuclear plant, fighting an invisible and unknown enemy. I do not make the connection with WWII, about which I have no family memories. I experienced it as a spiritual test; there are so many metaphors of our time in this drama. I hope that we’ll be able to debate over this and that we’ll overcome it together. Japanese have developed a culture of patience, sacrifice and self-control that we learn from our elders. I did not leave Tokyo. Many advised me to leave the capital to find refuge in the Southwest of the archipelago. My choice was to go on with my daily life, peacefully.”

Download the original article (PDF): Le Figaro, Apres le seisme, cinq artistes japonais, 12.4.2011