WHAT REMAINS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN DRISCOLL
What Remains
Life after an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear meltdown PHOTO ESSAY / DISASTER PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN DRISCOLL
opposite page: About ten kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a cluster of houses stand deserted in radiation-contaminated farmland. above: Thousands of houses in the Fukushima prefecture were abandoned after the 2011 tragedy.
on 11 march 2011, the Japanese city of Fukushima suffered three consecutive disasters. On 11 March, the city was hit by an earthquake, which triggered a tsunami. The waves knocked out the cooling systems of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing fuel rods to melt down and release deadly radiation. In the coming weeks, a total of 470,000 people were evacuated, and an “exclusion zone” was created, with a radius of 20 kilometres from the plant. Five years on, the effects of these tragedies are still being felt in the surrounding region. When the American photographer Brian Driscoll first visited Fukushima, in 2012, it was not to take pictures, but to visit a friend. But on witnessing the impact of the 2011 tragedy, he decided to return to document the lives of those affected by it. Driscoll spent six weeks in 2014 working on the project— which he titled Life Within 90km, as all his photos were taken no farther than 90 kilometres from the plant. He spent his first week at Aizu, a community centre in Fukushima “for people who are deeply troubled by what has happened,” talking to residents over tea and snacks. Some were uncomfortable having their photos taken, but even they were eager to speak about their lives. Most residents were angry about how the government had handled the situation. Besides the trauma of the disasters and forced relocation, their key concern was radiation—how it might affect their bodies, crops and livestock, and the water flowing down from nearby mountains. Driscoll made heavy use of portraits, which he believes have a strong impact while also leaving “room for viewers to think.” With the help of one of the plant’s former security guards, the photographer gained access to the exclusion zone, and spent around ten hours working there in all. He decided to shoot mostly with a film camera, because it forced him to slow down and he felt the subject demanded that he take his time. The project is unfinished, and Driscoll plans to continue with the work. He does not think that the reportage on the disasters has been extensive enough, and said he would like to see more stories on the communities and people of Fukushima.
above: The town of Odaka, roughly ten kilometres from the nuclear power plant, remains lifeless except for the intermittent sounds of crows.
above: On Saturdays, evacuees from Tomioka town gather for lunch at temporary houses near Koriyama. opposite page top: Komma Sadao stands inside the house he had to abandon in the town of Namie, ten kilometres north of the nuclear power plant. Sadao served as the head security guard at the plant for 22 years, and was on the site at the time of the meltdown. He was stranded at the gate for two days after the disaster. opposite page bottom: Electricity poles dot rice fields outside of Koriyama.
above: Vegetation is fast taking over many of the abandoned structures in the exclusion zone. opposite page top: Kinjira Kajida, a mushroom and rice farmer from the city of Kawauchi, has been living inside a housing complex in Koriyama since 2011. After the nuclear meltdown, he could no longer keep the farm running and his family split apart. His son and daughter have moved to a suburb near Tokyo with their children. opposite page bottom: Chairs from a celebration hall sit in an empty field in Odaka, about 14 kilometres north of the nuclear power plant.
right : Students stand outside a high school after a graduation ceremony in the Onuma district of the Fukushima prefecture.
opposite page: Masumi Kohata, aged 58, is a rice and mushroom farmer from Okuma town. She was evacuated from her home, and has been living at the Matsunaga evacuee houses in Aizuwakamatsu city. above: Bicycles remain as they were left in 2011 at the Odaka town train station, about eight kilometres from the power plant.
right: Nozaki and his family stand in a vegetable field in Aizuwakamatsu. Nozaki and his wife are worried about how discrimination against Fukushima’s residents will impact the future of their four-year-old daughter.