岩波 友紀

Yuki Iwanami

This photography project represents the relationship between people and land, people and people in Fukushima, divided by invisible radiation, and captures the invisible damage carved in the hearts of the people of Fukushima.　In 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant spread radioactive materials. In Fukushima, boundaries were physically drawn with evacuation zones and the land was divided. The contaminated land also divided people as well. And then there is the psychological divide. People struggle left and right with the effects of radiation which they have never experienced before, and human relationships are severed due to differences in position and thinking. The anxiety is always present in people's minds.　When I moved to Fukushima, I realized this. Relationships that have been broken cannot be repaired, and the anxiety in their hearts cannot be removed.　Some people stare helplessly, while others keep going by faith. No one knows what is right here. Even if they don't know, they just go on living. Because there is no escape in the world, and there is no way to move from this time and place.

bio
Yuki Iwanami was born in Nagano Prefecture. After working in the photography department of a newspaper company, he became a freelance documentary photographer. He currently resides in Fukushima Prefecture, where he continues to produce works on the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. 2018 saw the release of his photo book “NIGHT FOREST,” on the theme of cherry blossom trees in the town of Tomioka- machi. His documentary about fathers searching for their missing children was shown at the Focus Photo Festival, and his photo book “One last hug” (Seigensha) was published in 2020. His photo collection“ Tsumugine” ( “the sound of spinning” ), on the theme of folk performing arts
in Tohoku’s disaster-stricken areas, won the 4th Irie Taikichi Memorial Photography Award. “Blue Persimmons,” which depicts Fukushima after the nuclear accident, won the Critical Mass Top 50, Tokyo International Photography Competition, and Eugene Smith W. Eugene Smith Grant, and has been exhibited at various events, including the Singapore International Photography Festival and the Daegu Photo Biennale.