shashasha

Photographed during a three year period in Okayama prefecture located in the southern part of Japan's Honshu island, Reiko Shibata's Lost Missives is a beautifully constructed narrative of lost loves and the lived lives of the last remaining generation of women known as 'wives of the war dead'. Photographing 54 women, _Lost Missives _is a visually strong reminder of the effects of war which echo far from the battlefield into the everyday lives of those left behind and made to live with the circumstances of loss. Accompanying each portrait are individual interviews, both text and image tenderly portray the powerful stories of each of the women through a preservation of love and the telling of loss. The publication is a powerful reminder of the effects of war, a compelling documentation of the past and a valuable source in guiding our futures.