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
On View
Not on viewLabel 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.
Before 1765
Robert Frederick Read
August 24, 1942