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Nagasaki 11:02

Artist Shōmei Tōmatsu (Japanese, 1930 - 2012)

CultureJapanese

Date1966

Medium119 photogravures in bound hardcover book

Dimensions8 5/8 × 7 1/2 in. (21.9 × 19.1 cm)

PortfolioFirst edition

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank

Object number2016.12.1

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a book of black and white photogravures bound as a hardcover book in the original cardboard slipcase with publisher’s marks. The artist was asked by the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs to create work about Nagasaki and its people, resulting in the series Nagasaki 11:02. The series documents the effects of the nuclear bomb and its ongoing impact on Nagasaki.
Label TextShōmei Tōmatsu Japanese, 1930–2012 Nagasaki 11:02, 1966 Photogravures (etchings made from photographic negatives) in bound hardcover book Photographer Shōmei Tōmatsu published this book 21 years after Americans detonated a nuclear bomb over Nagasaki, Japan. The artists had been asked to document the ongoing effects of the nuclear explosion, and the photographs convey the psychological and physical traumas of the attack. The project takes its title from one of the images, which shows a watch that had been discovered near the epicenter of the explosion with its hands frozen at 11:02am, the moment the bomb was detonated. Other photographs depict the scars of survivors, damage to buildings, and the remnants of everyday objects. The images often use abstract perspectives and surrealist qualities to explore Japanese traditions, symbols, and cultural memories. Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank. 2016.12.1 ProvenancePurchased at auction from Ader Nordmann, Paris, by Chrysler Museum of Art, May 12, 2016.Exhibition History"Photographs Take Time: Pictures from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, April 6 - August 26, 2018.