NAGASAKI - Carbohnized Child

This Photograph was taken by Yamahata Yosuke in Nagasaki the day after the bombing. Mr. Yamahata took this Photo of a Child who had been turned into a carbohnized statue. Tens of thousands of other victims were found in the same condition. Those closest to the blast had been immediately vaporized, but others were squashed flat by the air pressure. People outside of the blast range suffered horrifying radiation burns so severe that their skin

slid off in sheets. Eyes melted or were made permanently blind. Those outside the effective range of the bomb were exposed to lethal doses of radiation as the Atomic mushroom cloud dispersed radioactive particles over a wide area.... thousands died of radiation sickness. An estimated 70,000

people had died in the blink of an eye, with an equal number being fatally maimed. Hibakusha (Japanese for "Atom Bomb Survivors") are still dying today in Nagasaki from the after effects of the explosion.

At 28 years old, Yamahata Yosuke was the first Photographer to enter Nagasaki after the Atomic Bombing of August 9th. Entering the city the day after it had been devastated, Mr. Yamahata wandered amongst the ruins of the radioactive wasteland documenting the effects of the bomb. He took more

than 100 photographs.... the most extensive documentation from either Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Mr. Yamahata became violently ill in August of 1965 on the 20th Anniversary of the Bombing. He died a year later of Cancer at the age of 48.

To commemorate the 56th Anniversary of the Bombing of Nagasaki, ART FOR A CHANGE is presenting an exhibition of 12 hibakusha Paintings. The works are accompanied by text and the testimony of the Artists. The hibakusha Art can be found at the following URL;

http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Atomic/atomic.htm