Flash of Light, Wall of Fire

This book features a collection of photographs taken in the days and months following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also, there are a few essays that put the setting and photographs into perspective (and which constantly remind the reader that this is not political).

I made it a point to look at the photos of Hiroshima on August 6th, and the photos of Nagasaki on the 9th, reading the essays in the days in between. I've read several books on the atomic bombing of Japan, so I was prepared for the worst. These photos do not truly depict the horrors of what happened on those days. Some nod at the grotesque, but none really capture it. According to the essays, some of the photographers refused to capture the suffering of people. Also, we know that thousands of photos were confiscated and destroyed. Many of the photos that appear in this collection were kept illegally.

Still, this is the best we have of what happened on those days. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that these photos, as heartbreaking as they are, are enough to convince the masses that what happened on those days is worth avoiding at all costs.