IKIRU - Post-Tsunami exhibition at photokina
A record of Japan’s Great Earthquake and thereafter as taken by 73 photographers – 116 large photo prints of victims of the quake and resulting tsunami and their lives.
The Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS) will hold a photo exhibition entitled “Ikiru – Post-Tsunami –” at the Photokina (the world’s leading imaging fair) 2012, which will be held in Cologne, Germany, from Sept. 18 to 23.
On March 11, 2011, Japan’s northeast region was hit by an unprecedentedly powerful earthquake and an ensuing killer tsunami – which is now called the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster. To commemorate this horrible event a year after it happened, the JPS decided as part of a support project to record the reconstruction process of the disaster-hit areas as seen from the eyes of the photographers and convey to the world how the people in this area have overcome insurmountable grief and sorrow. The word Ikiru means “to continue to live” or “to survive,” which conveys the thought that the people of the earthquake and tsunami hit areas are saying: “We are surviving!”
In March 2012, the JPS held the exhibition in Tokyo under the title “Ikiru – a year after the Great East Japan Earthquake,” and then in April it held the exhibition again in the earthquake-hit city of Sendai, greatly impressing a large number of people who came to see the two exhibitions.
Moreover, a book of photographs that was published in line with the exhibition drew quite a response and we presented 500 of the books to public libraries in the disaster-hit areas and municipal libraries throughout the nation.
In order to communicate to the world a record of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the lives of the people from this area, we will hold the exhibition at the Photokina, the world’s major photo show.
Of the 73 photographers who provided photos for this project, 29 were victims of the disaster. Centering on the documentary photos taken by them, many other photos were provided by JPS members, general photographers and the media. Also, the photographs taken by amateurs who lived in the disaster area and who encountered the disaster first-hand are notable and precious records of the earthquake and tsunami. A large number of photographers who experienced the disaster first-hand took pictures of what was happening around them and now they are supporting reconstruction projects through their photographs.
The JPS would like to express its gratitude to the assistance, support and encouragement extended from around the world concerning the Earthquake disaster. At the same time, the JPS hopes to share this record with all the people around the globe and contribute to the promotion and development of the photographs. The JPS is profoundly grateful to have been given this timely opportunity to participate in Photokina 2012.
Event Outline:
Photokina 2012
Dates: Sept. 18 (Tue.) – 23 (Sun.), 2012
(Organizer: Koelnmesse )
Venue: Photokina 2012, Koelnmesse Hall 5.1 (1st floor)
Cologne, Republic of Germany
Organizer: Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS)
Sponsor: TAMRON Co., Ltd.
