Ryuichi Hirokawa's (廣河隆一) heartfelt concern toward women and children is obvious as soon as you become familiar with his photos.
During his 30-year career as a photojournalist covering war-torn Lebanon in the 1970s, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and AIDS discrimination in Japan, women and children have consistently been the main subject of his images. Most of the covers of his more than 40 books feature pictures of young girls or mothers with sons.
Speaking Feb. 21 at the opening of an exhibition of his photography at the Tunhwa South Road branch of the Eslite Bookstore, Hirokawa spoke passionately of his concern for society's most vulnerable people. "This child's name is Tania from Ukraine. She was 14 when she died of cancer," he said, recalling children's names, their personalities, their families and the circumstances of their death from violence or illness due to radiation exposure.
PHOTO: RYUICHI HIROKAWA, CCFJ
Hirokawa says he originally sought to capture the beauty of women in his work, but shifted his focus to a more humanitarian-oriented photography after seeing the suffering of people in Beirut in the 1970s.
"I remember one time after an air raid, a little girl was following me, trying to tell me something. I felt she was a little daughter of mine and I later became good friends with her," he said. A few months later, returning to Beirut from Japan, he learned that the girl had died in a brutal massacre at her refugee camp.
"I was shocked and resentful of the war. I was thinking of ways to save those people with my photos and prevent such suffering," he said.
PHOTO: RYUICHI HIROKAWA, CCFJ
Until 1982, he dedicated much of his work to documenting the lives of the people in Beirut, which he said had been "washed away in the ruthlessness of the war."
Hirokawa turned his attention to another disaster area in 1986, following the catastrophic meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
In the 15 years that have passed since the accident, Hirokawa has returned to the city 40 times to cover the aftermath in the region. The work has won him five major journalistic awards and inspired him to found the Chernobyl Children's Fund of Japan (CCFJ).
PHOTO: RYUICHI HIROKAWA, CCFJ
The foundation has donated ambulances, medicine, ultrasound equipment, milk, radioscopes and about 10 tonnes of relief goods to areas that continue to suffer from the effects of nuclear fallout around Chernobyl. CCFJ has also supported 10,000 children to recuperate at sanatariums in Belarus and Ukraine.
Hirokawa's photos from Chernobyl carry a strong anti-nuclear theme, which explains his current exhibition in Taipei amid the ongoing controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and his invitation by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (
"Human beings are still unable to handle a nuclear accident," Hirokawa said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
His anti-nuclear message is brought out in the exhibition titled Mourning Nature -- the Truth of Chernobyl (
"When I saw on TV Taiwan's premier holding my photo to assert his anti-nuclear stand, I was very touched and very happy," said Hirokawa. The government's decision last month to recommence construction of the plant after three months of political wrangling over the issue was Hirokawa's main motivation for visiting Taiwan. He warned at his lecture that, "An area of 160,000km2 was polluted by radioactive fallout in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, an area about five times the size of Taiwan."
One particularly interesting picture in the exhibition is of a wedding. At this wedding, Hirokawa faced the awkward dilemma of whether he should eat the food at the banquet. "Of course I have fear and hesitation during my visits to Chernobyl, because food and water are all contaminated," he said.
Hoping to delay a decision, he began to drink successive rounds of vodka. "By the time they started the food I was already too drunk to eat," he said jokingly.
It seems that Hirokawa has found a balance between journalistic passion and self-indulgence.
For your information
PHOTO: RYUICHI HIROKAWA, CCFJ
"Mourning Nature -- the Truth of Chernobyl" (核殤大地, 車諾堡的真實) by Ryuichi Hirokawa is on view until Sunday at level B2 Eslite Bookstore on Tunhwa South Road, Taipei.
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