小原一真｜Kazuma Obara
Fragments - In My Memories Of Chernobyl
作品解説
過去に撮影した写真が新たな出来事によって、それまでとは全く異なる意味を持つことがある。小原一真は、2015年、原発事故から29年を迎えたウクライナ・チェルノブイリを訪れ、偶然譲り受けた中判フィルムで撮影。事故によって被曝したフィルムが写し出したのは、母胎の中で被曝した赤ん坊が大人の女性になって抱える、目には見えない被曝の後遺症とその痛みだ。その後2022年にロシア軍の侵攻によって彼が出会った人々の多くは難民となり、兵士となり、戦時下での生活を余儀なくされている。今回の展示はシリーズExposureを中心に、戦前のウクライナで撮影した日常のスナップ、現在の戦時下のアーカイブ写真を用いた写真集などで構成。Exposureには、被曝・露光・告白という意味がある。記憶の断片となった写真は、崩壊と修復を繰り返しながら新たな見えない痛みを背後に刻み込む。
A photograph taken in the past can take on entirely new meaning when viewed in the context of later events. In 2015, Kazuma Obara visited Chernobyl, Ukraine—29 years after the nuclear disaster. There, by chance, he came into possession of a roll of medium-format film and used it to take photographs. The film, having been exposed to radiation from the accident, bore visible traces of its contamination. The resulting images reveal both the unseen effects of radiation and the quiet pain of a woman who was exposed to it in the womb and has since grown into adulthood. Titled Exposure, the work plays on multiple meanings: radiation exposure, photographic exposure, and personal revelation.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many of the people Obara had met during his earlier visits became refugees, soldiers, or civilians living under the harsh realities of war. This exhibition features Exposure, along with snapshots of everyday life in Ukraine taken before the recent war, and photobooks compiling archival images from the ongoing conflict. These photographs—fragments of memory shaped by cycles of destruction and recovery—now carry new, invisible layers of pain quietly embedded in their backgrounds.
Profile
小原一真｜Kazuma Obara
1985年岩手県生まれ。写真家・ジャーナリスト。ロンドン芸術大学ドキュメンタリーフォトグラフィー修士課程修了。自然災害、核、戦争、パンデミックなどをテーマに災禍の中で見えづらくなっていく個人に焦点を当てたドキュメンタリープロジェクトに取り組んでいる。2022年のロシア軍侵攻以降はウクライナに住む少数民族ロマの記録に取り組むため、ウクライナと周辺国での撮影を続ける。主な著書に『Reset』(ラースミュラー出版/2012)、『Silent Histories』(Editorial RM/2015)。『Exposure』(同左/2017)で世界報道写真賞受賞。写真は「Kyotographie京都国際写真祭」(2021)、「アルル国際写真祭」(2024)他、国内外で展示される。主な助成に米ナショナルグラフィック財団、オランダ大使館など。
Born in 1985 in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Kazuma Obara is a photographer and journalist. He holds a Master’s degree in Documentary Photography from the University of the Arts London. His work focuses on individuals whose lives are often overlooked in the context of large-scale disasters—such as natural catastrophes, nuclear accidents, wars, and pandemics. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Obara has continued documenting the region, focusing particularly on the lives of the Roma, a marginalized ethnic minority living in Ukraine and surrounding countries.
His major publications include Reset (Lars Müller Publishers, 2012), Silent Histories (Editorial RM, 2015), and Exposure (Editorial RM, 2017), which received a World Press Photo Award. His work has been exhibited widely in Japan and abroad, including at “Kyotographie International Photography Festival” (2021) and “Les Rencontres d’Arles” (2024). He has received support from organizations such as the National Geographic Society (U.S.) and the Embassy of the Netherlands.