Hiroshima Miyako Ishiuchi

This is one of the signature works by photographer Miyako Ishiuchi (born 1947), who has achieved high international acclaim, notably becoming the first Asian woman to win the prestigious Hasselblad Award in 2014.

The book features photographs taken in 2007 of the "skin-close" personal effects—such as clothing and accessories—of atomic bomb victims, which are stored at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Although Ishiuchi initially hesitated to address the theme of the atomic bomb, she was powerfully drawn to the beauty and sense of fashion reflected in the garments, despite their devastating history.

For Ishiuchi, these remains are more than mere "records." Similar to her Mother's series, which documented her late mother's personal items, the objects in Hiroshima are photographed using transmitted light. While the light makes the items beautifully regenerate with vivid colors, the rising details—the fabric patterns, delicate stitching, and marks of tailoring or remodeling—simultaneously invoke the harrowing past and the lives that the owners certainly lived.

"To shine light on the remnants and bring them back to life"—Ishiuchi Miyako's unique perspective allows this volume to transform heavy history into a powerful narrative of "life" speaking to the present day.