Yosuke Yamahata’s photographs of Nagasaki, taken a day after ground zero, were among the first pulled from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s planned 50th anniversary exhibit on the atomic bombings. Veterans claimed the show overemphasized the tragedy to Japan, which shocked museum director Martin Harwit. “[These photos] show the truth,” says Harwit, who resigned over the furor. “They’re all we have that show what it is these bombs actually do.” The exhibit was shelved. For the complete picture, the Independent Documentary Group of San Francisco presents the Japanese army photographer’s images in July in New York (the International Center of Photography), San Francisco (Ansel Adams Center for Photography), and Nagasaki, and in a book Nagasaki Journey: The Photographs of Yosuke Yamahata (Pomegranate Artbooks).
