DOMON, KEN & TOMATSU, SHOMEI. Hiroshima-Nagasaki Document 1961.

DOMON, KEN & TOMATSU, SHOMEI. Hiroshima-Nagasaki Document 1961. Illustrated with reproductions of Domon's and Tomatsu's photographs of the aftermath of the atomic bomb explosions. Square 4to, gray stamped boards, soiled at edges; with the accompanying booklet of scientific and historical data laid in, wrappers lightly soiled; boards chemise and original printed boards slipcase, the latter chipped and worn. Parr/Badger 274. first edition. Np: The Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, 1961

Ken Domon's ascetic documentarian photographs paired with Tomatsu's more symbolic, expressive images rawly memorialize the trauma of the atomic bomb. Domon's frank representations of reconstructive surgeries were first seen in his somber book entitled "Hiroshima" (published three years before this collaboration), which openly and gruesomely documented the physical and mental devastation in the wake of the atomic holocaust. These images are followed here by Shomei Tomatsu's more lyrically metaphorical, yet equally devastating, images of national anguish. In contrast to Domon, Tomatsu represents a younger generation looking for new, more expressive ways of representing the Japanese crisis. Tomatsu's "Nagasaki 11:02," published seven years later, revisited many of the images found here and fully realized these new, powerful tropes of representational photography.

The accompanying informational booklet by the Japan Council Against the A & H Bombs both balances and strengthens these artistic forces.
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