shashasha

Spanning a two year period, Shuji Akagi's_Fukushima Traces 2011-2013_collates images of the city's ongoing decontamination process and life within Fukushima post-tsunami. Here Akagi presents viewers with a visual diary filled with detailed observations documenting various aspects of life living within a zone contaminated with radiation. Banners and governmentslogans of encouragement are constantly displayed for public viewing, from billboards to consumer items. Images of contaminated soil from playgrounds, homes and sports fields removed from their places lay covered by tarpaulin in scattered mounds across the city. The photographs are coupled with Akagi's detailed personal annotations revealing an account more truthful ofthe reality of the situation in and around the affected areas. Geiger meters, affordable dosimeters to whole body counters are present fixtures of the cities landscape referencing life within a post-nuclear world where reading the radiation levels within the environment has become the norm. Documenting his day to day encounters with his environment, Akagi usesphotography to capture his reality, a citizen as activist making visible to others the false sense of security, immunity and the variabilities of perceived risks concerning Japan's use of nuclear energy.