Sunday, November 16, 2008

Desolation Rows


There are many of us who are just curious enough to poke through piles of interesting-looking rubbish left on curbs for the trashmen to see what might be in there. Massachusetts diner owner Don Levy checked out a battered old suitcase to discover that it had unpublished photographs of Hiroshima after the bombing.

Design Observer has the whole fascinating story. Mr. Levy:

“We see death and disaster all over TV but these photographs are different, maybe because they are physical objects. They don’t represent the horror, exactly, because there are no bodies. They’re clinical. But the power of them is really intense. Why is that? I think it’s because I can’t help but place myself behind the lens. What was that guy feeling when he took the photos? He was clicking and whirling, clicking and whirling. These photographs seem real, connected to the event. They have a power in them. I never would have thrown away that suitcase on purpose.”

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