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In the wake of the Japanese Tsunami, we have witnessed countless images and video of the destruction and the unfolding of the event itself. Through our media we have watched the waves' destructive force. We have witnessed the disruption, chaos and the helpless obliteration of the towns and villages along Japan's coast.  These images alone have given us a horrifying glimpse into the tragedies. We have a knew respect for the forces of nature and our own vulnerability. Yet as with all other tragedies, there is a period in which we seem to forget what these images tell us. Perhaps it is in our nature that we need to forget in order to continue living. Yet, these images might not be the only images that we need to experience.

This past week there was an article posted to Facebook that asked the question about the recent work of james-nachtweys . Shot in the devastation of the Tsunami, his work depicts dead bodies within the mountainous rubble. The comments that people left about the work were varied. Some reacted as if we should not be allowed to see the images, that they were disrespectful to the dead and to the families of the lost. Others thought we should see them as a way to understand the meaning of death.

Many of the images that are taken in the tragedies of our time are of death. These images are very difficult to look at and are often not seen by many as they are restricted or censored. As seen in the gallery above, in the early days of our history, it was common to see photographs taken to record the deaths of people who were killed or who had died by natural causes, war and other catastrophic means.

What then is the value of the deaths that occur if we are not allowed to view the realities of their deaths. How do we as a culture deal with the actualities of death if we are not allowed to view the victims? Is it immoral to see the realities?  The actual images from our wars and from the devastating results of man-made and of natural calamity are a way for us to understand the consequences of real death. I believe that we should see much more than we are allowed to witness.

How do we learn from their deaths? How can we respect the dead and comprehend there tragedy? How do we keep the events in the public conscience? Can we learn something new from an encounter with real death! Is there a way to make images that will show respect for the dead while exposing their abrupt and complete finality.

Perhaps by looking at the realities of death, we can learn how to prevent the human cost of future events. We might remember the dead as symbol for our carelessness, our disregard for human suffering and death. Perhaps through compassion we will see the true insanity of our wars, the inhumanity of our greed and the vulnerability of where and how we live. Perhaps seeing the aftermath of authentic death, as a shock of the real, we can make good from tragedy so that the world becomes a safer, more friendly and more humane place for all of us who are still alive!

Sometimes it takes the imagery of death to shock the world into recognition and action. The stark reality of the Holocaust was laid bare by documentarians and journalists. Today, many credit Youtube for exposing the brutalities of closed-off regimes from Libya to Burma. From war to natural catastrophe, we can respect the dead by learning from their fate.

The way I see it:

"Understanding their demise is our debt to the dead and an obligation to the living."

© John Neel

"First there is shock — disbelief at what you are witnessing with your own eyes. The surface of reality is unimaginable. Huge man-made structures were swept 

away like toys tossed about by a furious child. Houses, cars, ships and locomotives funneled up river channels, smashed against the sides of hills and swept back again as the raging waters receded, left in grotesque positions, as if by a sculptor gone mad. Towns and villages were annihilated, by a few minutes in the process of a cosmic organism, devoid of knowable intent. The aftershock is a profound sense of grief, amplified by the futility of anger.

Inevitably, the mind is compelled below the surface, where the human tragedy is equally unimaginable. Inside all those houses and cars are people — entire populations obliterated, silent, waiting to be found and returned to their loved ones, a seemingly impossible task, but one which is methodically and patiently being accomplished because rituals of respect and love and parting are so vital to humanity." Time LightBox Photo Essay 

Dispatch from Japan: James Nachtwey’s Impressions in Words and Pictures

 

Read more: http://lightbox.time.com/2011/03/17/devastation-james-nachtweys-pictures-from-japan/#ixzz1HoUCSKIF

 

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