Aichi Hirano

When the earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, I was working with an art exhibition entitled "Rolls of the Week”. At the time of the earthquake, I felt so helpless. I found myself in a country in chaos unable to help out. I realized that this was not the time to feel helpless. I took my disposable camera and went to the area of devastation.

 I handed out disposable cameras to people in the evacuation center in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. With the statement: "Please take photographs of things you see, things you want to document, remember, people close to you, those you love, things you want to convey, please work freely and try to appreciate the process if only a little bit" I wrote down these instructions along with other information on an A4 paper that I gave away with the disposable cameras. I went to the following places in Ishinomaki: Minamihama, Watanoha, and Minamisanriku. I was greeted by debris and mountains of crashed cars. It was an incredible sight. I heard unimaginable stories from the victims, stories of unbelievable escapes from the tsunami. I thought that everyone who lived in the evacuation areas were miraculous survivors. I was told that it would take one to two years for the cities to recover. The contaminated water from the nuclear disaster in Fukushima only made the situation worse.

Rolls Tohoku March 31^st – April 3^rd, is a document of the earthquake as seen from the victims' perspective, photographed from March 31 to April 3, 2011.These images reveal a truth that is more accurate than the images in the media.

The media focuses only on ‘the catastrophe’ while the affected areas look forward to recovery. In the near future, the news of this disaster will eventually disappear. I hope that this document will continue to show the reality of the situation long after the media coverage dissipates.

Digital photography has become the standard today, and mistakes can be easily edited. Therefore we consciously chose to use disposable cameras with film. Many of the participants took the photographs during a specific time period. The exhibition displays all of the photographs that were taken. No selection was made.

I would like to thank Rolls of the Week No.1 because they donated to the project so many disposable cameras.

-Aichi Hirano

Curator’s comment:

When disasters like the one in Japan (2011) and in Southeast Asia (2004) occurs, the media reports intensively and we are fed with images from the affected areas. Project Rolls Tohoku March 31^st – April 3^rd’s method is to create an exhibition of the photographs taken with disposable cameras. The exhibition includes all of the images, which gives us a more personal picture of the disaster. The fact that individuals, many of whom are children, depict the tsunami's progress makes these photographs even more objective. These photographs were not created for a reportage, they were simply the result of an invitation "... Shoot things you see, what you want to remember, the ones you love ... ". The photographs show children playing, and there is joy in the pictures despite all of the misery. The simple presentation and use of disposable cameras, makes it easier for us to receive the images due to their immediacy.

-Maria Patomella

Fotografiska would like to thank Marc Feustel, Studio Equis, who helped us access these photographs. We also would like to thank Tsuguo Tada for his interpretation services in Japan.