小原一真

Kazuma Obara

Kazuma Obara has consistently documented individuals rendered invisible amid large-scale disasters—ranging from portraits of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant workers to the lives of Roma people affected by the war in Ukraine. At KYOTOGRAPHIE 2021, he presented “Fill in the Blanks” at Nijo Castle, focusing on the experience of end-of-life care in COVID-19 wards. This project led him to begin interviews with those whose lives had become hidden under quarantine, which in turn became the starting point for his ongoing photographic work in Hansen disease sanatoriums since 2022.
This exhibition presents Obara’s continuing project on Hansen disease across four venues in Kyoto. At each location, specially designed newspapers reflecting the concept of the specific “place” will be displayed and distributed. As visitors travel through these four sites, they are invited to reflect on the social issues surrounding Hansen disease from multiple perspectives, and to contemplate the lives and presence of those who continue to live under the lingering effects of segregation policies.
The policy of forcibly isolating Hansen disease patients began in 1907, and the law allowing lifelong segregation remained in effect until 1996. Due to persistent misconceptions about Hansen disease as a highly contagious illness, many survivors and their families still feel unable to speak openly about their experiences. Through this exhibition, words and landscapes of those who remain invisible even within their local communities are shared in everyday public spaces—a collective act of “sharing being.”