shashasha

From the late 1960s until his death in 1985, Japanese photojournalist Akihiko Okamura created a remarkable record of life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a violent ethno-nationalist conflict that only ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. After covering the Vietnam War, Okamura moved to Ireland in 1969. Compared to the work of other international photojournalists, it is perhaps this personal relationship and closeness to Ireland that allowed him to capture the reality - both objective and intersubjective - of life during the Troubles. His photographs focus less on violence, terror or spectacle but rather on the instability of everyday life and the subtle but palpable effects of constant tension.

This book, edited by Pauline Vermare (photography historian and specialist in the visual representation of the Northern Irish conflict) and produced in collaboration with the Akihiko Okamura Archive and Photo Museum Ireland, is the first time that Akihiko Okamura's work on Ireland has been brought together. It includes several texts by international historians, photography critics, and journalists to offer a range of different perspectives on the Troubles and Okamura's work.