Family members sitting in the ruins of their homes which were destroyed by the tsunami
Argentine photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg was in Tokyo in 2012 for an exhibition of his work, when his curator told him about the earthquake and tsunami that had hit Japan the year before.
The small fishing town of Otsuchi along the Sanriku Coast, where his curator had family, had been badly affected; 60% of it was destroyed by waves that reached up to 60 feet high.
Chaskielberg made his first trip to Otsuchi in late 2012 and found a flattened landscape covered with red flags marking the dead, and debris scattered where homes and buildings once stood.
He was introduced to his curator’s family, as well as other townspeople who had been affected by the tsunami. During a follow-up trip, he got to know more people through NGOs, civil groups and students who attended a workshop he conducted.
His series ‘Otsuchi Future Memories’ features poignant portraits of survivors sitting in the empty spaces where their homes had been before the disaster struck.
Their quiet and dignified stoicness belie their sadness and grief at having their homes swept away.
The portraits were taken over the two visits, during which Chaskielberg photographed around 20 families.
The photographer was particularly struck by his discovery of a wet photo album in a box along a road early in his project, stating that it “seemed to be more like a dying animal than a photo album.”
It became an important part of his series—he created a custom color palette from one of the faded photographs in it, and applied them to the black-and-white shots of his subjects.
“It’s a reflection on the tragedy as a whole—the losses, the memory—and my way of seeing the world... These photographs speak to the way the Otsuchi inhabitants decided to record their lives. From my viewpoint, I try to build a story about the city and its people,” explained Chaskielberg.
Scroll down for more images and view the rest of the series here.
Fish workers sitting on fishing buoys swept away by the tsunami
Three generations of women sit in the bathroom of their destroyed home
Remains of cars, fishing nets and houses
The photo album discovered by Chaskielberg; its contents are faded and waterlogged
Mrs Oikawa Shiyuko sitting in what used to be her home
Two young men sit next to a destroyed railroad bridge
Empty spaces where two houses used to stand
[via Slate, images via Alejandro Chaskielberg]