Japanese man spends life taking photos of AO effects

VietNamNet Bridge, September 15, 2006
Over the past 30 years, Japanese photographer Goro Nakamura has spent much time and effort taking photos describing the pain and destruction endured by Vietnamese people and their country due to Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin, which US troops sprayed during the war in Vietnam.
“Agent Orange/dioxin has not only brought tragedy on people who were directly infected but also left its destructive imprint on later generations. I want to give the full picture of the AO tragedy suffered by successive Vietnamese generations,” Nakamura said.
He began to take photos of the effects of AO in Vietnam in 1976, and since 1982 expanded his subject to include US soldiers infected with the toxic chemical on the Vietnamese battlefields and their offspring.
In 1995, he published a photo book named ” Vietnam War: Agent Orange/Dioxin” in English and Japanese.
For the first time, the 65-year-old photographer will inaugurate a photo exhibition titled “Silent Spring: Photos of Agent Orange/Dioxin” in New York, USA, from Oct. 3-28.
The title of the exhibition was inspired by a photo of a boy standing in an AO-damaged mangrove forest which he took in Ca Mau Cape in 1976. The boy is now over 30 but he is bed-bound due to AO/dioxin contamination.
Nakamura plans to open more exhibitions in the US on the effect of AO/dioxin in Vietnam.

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