english:
On March 2011, Japan went through a series of
catastrophe. Earthquake and tsunami hitting the
country and my hometown Fukushima was also affected. The earthquake also hit
the nuclear power plant located in Fukushima and for some time there were great
fear of radiation leakage. Many
people lost their family, friends and home in the tsunami. I felt scared and powerless as I
watched the news from Australia.
Two months after the tsunami, my grandmother
who gave me a chance to learn photography passed away and I went back to Japan.
There were many sad news about earthquakes, tsunami and radiation leakage
everyday in the Japanese media. However, despite many losses, Japanese people
did not lose hope as they continued to live their lives. When I saw them, I remembered
my grandparents. I recalled taking photos of them and thought that those photos
might have been the best photos I have ever taken.
In my memory, my grandparents were beautiful,
cheerful and loving. Back in the Second World War, they lost their family and
friends. And although life was hard and food was scarce at that time, they
never gave up. They lived strongly and cheerfully. Their story inspired me and
when I was 19 years old, I decided I wanted to take pictures of their
day-to-day happiness and sadness. I was not sure how I managed to capture their
strength and goodness in the pictures. It could be because I loved them so much
and couldn’t stop taking pictures of them.
The daily lives of my grandparents always
aroused my interest and every time I captured their lives with my camera, I ran
to the photo studio to develop the pictures and waited patiently until they
were done.
Although they are no longer in this world, they
will always live in my heart. The pictures of their daily lives never failed to
inspire me to live happily and cheerfully even in times of hardships. I hope
the pictures and story told within the pictures could also help others, who see
them, to find joy and happiness.
Thank you,
Tomomi Sakuma
10% of monies raised from the sale
of works will be donated to
charity for the aftermath of
the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and
tsunami.
日本語：
2011年３月日本では大きな悲しみが襲いました。日本で大きな地震が起き、私の生まれ福島でも、たくさんの人々が家族、友だち、家を失いました。この悲惨な出来事を私は、オーストラリアでただテレビでしかみることができず、とてもショックでした。
その２ヶ月後、写真を始めるきっかけとなった、祖母がなくなり帰郷しました。連日のメディアでは地震、津波、原子力の悲しいニュースであふれていました。その中でたくさんの人々が多くの物を失った状況から生きようとしていました。その多くの人々の姿が、私の祖父母の姿と重なりました。
私にとって祖父母はとても美しく強く、愛にあふれた存在でした。戦時中のような辛い時、家族も家も失い食べものもないような状況で、彼らの人生をあきらめることなく、懸命に生きてきました。だから、私が１９歳のとき、その彼らの日々の幸せや悲しみを写真に収めようと思いました。仕上がった彼らの写真はとても魅力的で、彼らの美しく強い生き方や姿勢が写真の中に収まっていました。
残念ながら彼らは亡くなってしまったけれど、いつも私の心の中に存在しています。
祖父母と、地震後の人々の姿が、悲しみだけでは何の状況も変える事が出来ないこと、自分の出来ることをやること、明るく生きることを教えてくれました。祖父母の写真がいつも私にそれを思い出させてくれます。
この写真をみてくれる人々が、強くハッピーになってくれたら幸いです。
佐久間友美
売上の10%が東日本大震災に直接 寄付されます。
