IMAGES FREE TO USE
Rare Collection Likely to be Original
Prints of Famous Nagasaki Images
Experts have claimed that a collection of rare black and
white photographs unveiled at Scotland’s Secret Bunker last week to commemorate
the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing are more likely to
images of the aftermath of the Nagasaki bombings and are very likely to be
original prints of the famous military photographer Yosuke Yamahata.
The collection of extremely rare and haunting photographs emerged
10 years ago, thousands of miles from the devastation, in a small Fife town when
local man, John Ferns of Coaltown of Balgonie, revealed the incredibly rare
photo collection that captures one of the most infamous acts of war in recent history.
Accordingly to a record in a photo diary dating back to 1946, Mr Ferns’ late father,
Clifford Fern, had reportedly stumbled across the undeveloped film of photographs
after buying a second hand camera while serving in the RAF in Iwakuni, 15 miles
outside Hiroshima, six months after the bombings in 1946.
Mr Ferns wrote in his diary account of the photographs that
the camera’s original owner had succumbed to the radiation shortly after taking
the photos. The photos capture the utter devastation to the landscape and
decimation of buildings, but also the ghostly and harrowing images of survivors
of the initial blast.
Experts at international auction house Bonhams have shed
further light on the collection, which are believed to include images taken by
the renowned military photographer Yosuke Yamahata, and reveals a fascinating
account of just how these pictures may have made their way back to Scotland.
Enquiries from some news outlets as to whether the images
could be attributed to Yosuke Yamahata sparked an investigation, spanning the
Atlantic, which led to further revelations about the collection.
Tom Lamb, expert in military photography at Bonhams in New
York was able to unequivocally put Mr Ferns’ collection into context.
“These photographs started off life as propaganda against the
Americans, who wanted very much to cover up what they had just done. Censorship
was high and so the photos of the destruction were kept under shop counters and
handed out surreptitiously, often swapped in under the counter deals with foreign troops for
packs of cigarettes, or food, or anything that the Japanese could trade.
“It is extremely likely that they were Yosuke Yamahata’s
images. He took 130 images in the days that followed the bombing and only 80 of
the original negatives survived. The vast majority of Yamahata’s pictures were
taken in Nagasaki, which these images almost certainly depict. The prints
varied in quality and several collections made their way across the world as
the servicemen returned home, and were often kept in photo albums and diaries
like those of Mr Ferns.
“The collections are still fairly rare and at auction, depending on the
quality of the prints, they can fetch anything between £2000 and even upwards
of £20,000”
The team at the Secret Bunker are in the process of seeking further
clarification from experts in Yosuke Yamahata’s photography to ascertain which
of the 11 images can be attributed to him, or whether there are additional,
unattributed, images from the mysterious second hand camera which is
specifically mentioned in Mr Ferns’ hand-written account of his time in Japan
in 1946.
The exhibition opened last week, exactly 70 years since the
attack on Hiroshima, and will be on display until 1st November.
There are copies of 11 images on display, and the exhibition will also be showing the critically acclaimed
and controversial film, The War Game (1965), commissioned by the BBC and
directed by Peter Watkins, which depicts the fictional aftermath of a nuclear
event.
The film
was banned from being released by the BBC for over 20 years, though it did
appear as a cinematic release which earned the film an Academy Award for Best
Documentary Feature in 1966. It was eventually broadcast to the public on 31
July 1985, forty years after the Hiroshima bombing took place.
James Mitchell, Owner of Scotland’s Secret Bunker,
commented:
“It is an immense privilege to display this rare and important
collection of images at Scotland’s Secret Bunker. There are very few
photographs of Hiroshima in the days after the bombing, so these images are as
close as people can get to understanding the true nature and utter devastation
of the nuclear attack. We hope that visitors will come here to observe, reflect
and learn more about the events of 70 years ago.”
For more information on
Scotland’s Secret Bunker visit www.secretbunker.co.uk