Antarctica in Black and Very White

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/antarctica-in-black-and-very-white/

Bernard Kalb and Walter Sullivan, in 1955, produced a very impressive collection of photographs about their fieldwork in Antarctica on Operation Deepfreeze. This was the largest expedition to Antarctica in which the United States had participated and produced vast amounts of information that were not previously known to the Western world. It is quite amazing and shocking that these photos had not been viewed until more than half a century after their creation. The photo pictured above, a shot of Sir Edmund Hillary, depicts the often slow, monotonous, chilling work of a man on the trans-Antarctic expedition.

This lonely lifestyle is demonstrated by the single figure in the frame. The placement of Hillary in the front of the frame implies a long distance traveled, and the repeated landscape implies that this journey is not one of much variation. This is a very quiet, solemn landscape and breaks into the emotions of this man in this particular setting. The overwhelming, predominantly white background adds to this sense of loneliness while at work in this environment. Even though this photograph has an almost forlorn sense to it, there is also a quality of progress, expansion, and hopefulness. The crack that runs from the middle of the photograph to the background depicts land that has already been traveled and gives a sense of movement forwards. The man has a cold look on his face, but his body language is telling a story of someone who is comfortable in his place and knows what he is doing.

Although this image is powerful on it’s own as a depiction of a worker’s place in the Antarctic landscape, there is so much of the story which is not contained within the single image. There is much work that is being done by Operation Deepfreeze that is not depicted here, such as their work with penguins or cargo ships. So although this image is a good summation of this environment, the story is greatly enhanced with the accompanying images by both Kalb and Sullivan. For this entire image set, the captions and text do not seem to be necessary and the photographs themselves provide enough information for the viewer to infer and place them in context. This image, as well as the rest of the set, is very powerful and informative because they depict a world that virtually no one sees. This field of work is so foreign that images are necessary to demonstrate the vastness and untouched quality that this land possesses. Kalb and Sullivan do a great job of throwing the viewer into this environment with the use of wide-angle landscape and action shots.

Bernard Kalb, Walter Sullivan, and Allyn Baum - Antarctica in Black and Very White

Since early adolescence, I have been drawn to the pure white, yet dangerous landscape of Antarctica. The idea that there is an entire continent completely uninhabited by humans, but that can still sustain life put my existence in the inhabited portion of the world in a different context. Despite the level of human interference or presence in this series of photographs, Bernard Kalb, Walter Sullivan, and Allyn Baum created a report for the New York Times in the winter of 1955-56 documenting the reality of the Antarctic environment. I chose two pictures from the series, the first being Mr. Kalb's untitled photograph of two penguins surveying the area with the Orca whale looming in the background, and Mr. Sullivan's photograph untitled photograph of the two explorers setting up a measuring instruments while the seals loaf around in the foreground. Of the series of photos, these two were the photos that I did a double take and just stared at them.

The first photograph by Mr. Kalb could easily be apart of a series documenting the lives of Antarctic penguins, a 50 year precursor to the film March of The Penguins. The photo reveals a true narrative: the two sentry penguins scouting out for danger, as the whale peeks through the water in the background, all surrounded by a unforgiving environment consisting of ice and mountainous terrain. Furthermore, the framing of the scene was done so that the eye starts in the middle of the frame with the fin of the whale, then can either diagonally go to the left to see the penguins, or diagonally right to see the mountain top peaking out of the snow. Additional elements of the photograph is the seemingly tactile snow and ice, as the photographer was able to capture the glisten and sheen of the surface in the photograph.

Mr. Sullivan's photograph of the explorers is truly astounding, and was the first one which got my attention. The environment is completely white, no clear sky, water, or mountains to separate the subjects from the background or provide more context for their location. Mr. Sullivan must have incredible patience and darkroom skill necessary to burn in the paw prints in the snow from the seals, but more so the clouds in the sky as well as the appearance of a horizon line. The existence of a visible horizon line reinforces the fact that they are essentially alone, in a barren land of snow and ice; essentially it's the tundra version of the scene in Lawrence of Arabia where Peter O'Toole's character is staring out into the barren dessert.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/antarctica-in-black-and-very-white/

Pictures of the Day: Libya and Elsewhere

When we think of these war-torn countries such as Libya, we think of fighting, bombs and rebellion. But there are so many people who are not a part of the violence and are still affected by the events going on. This photo caught my eye because of the lines created by the refugees. These people are hard-working cilivians who fled from their homes and families because of fear. The man in the foreground seems to be wandering around, lost and confused. His shoes look too big, and he looks out of place. The overall feeling of the photo is very sad, the sky encompassed by grey clouds. This photograph shows us only a small portion of what looks to be a very long line of people who can't even provide their own food to eat. The viewer can't even imagine how long these people are waiting to get just a small bit of food to eat, but just seeing this photograph allows us to put ourselves in their shoes for just a moment and sympathize with them.

In this country we become so upset by our involvement in other countries affairs, but photographs like this show us why we do it. Every day we take for granted the comfort that we have here in the US. By seeing photographs like this, we are forced to see every bit of the problems occurring, instead of just what we are shown on the news.

Brittany Wall Blog #1

This photograph immediately caught my eye while going through the lens blog. Not only did it reach out to me because of the recent tragedy in Japan, but also because of the real and raw emotion you get just from viewing the photograph. It brings home the fact that even though you do not know this man, you can still feel his pain.

The way this photograph is taken also adds to the content. Although this man is shot to the left of the photo, he still remains the focus. However, while he is still the main focus of the composition, the background rubble and snow supports the theme. It shows not only the man's suffering, but why he is suffering. The damage gives the viewer an eye into how truly devestated Japan was, and allows people around the world to experience a little of what the Japanese people are experiencing. The lighting in the photograph also seems very dismal, and adds to the somber effect of the photograph. While I believe that this photograph is a very powerful display of the hurt Japan is going through, I believe that the caption of the photo is necessary. It gives the viewer even more information, and lets the reader know exactly what they are looking at. For me the caption made a big difference in that it also shows the massive loss of family and friends in the destruction. I also think that while this photo and caption are quite strong on their own, that it would tell a more complete story in a series or book. With a series or book, the captions might not even be necessary because it might be able to fill in the blanks simply with the images.

While going through the lens blog, this photographs was one of the first I saw, but I passed by it and kept looking for others. However, I knew there was something about this photo that kept bringing me back. No matter what other photo I looked at, I kept thinking about this one because of the way I felt emotionally. It opened my eyes as to not take anything for granted and be grateful for everything I have in my life. The people of Japan did not expect anything like a day like that, and we can not take for granted how lucky we are to have our health and safety. It also puts into perspective how important our family and friends are, and we should make every day count with them as you never know what could happen. This photograph is not only an excellent and powerful display of loss and tragedy, but also a moment in history captured. I think that this photograph is a memorable one because it will continue to be seen for years to come.

Pictures of the Day: Japan and Elsewhere

Given the amount of media coverage of Japan in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami, I feel it only appropriate to include this image by Shiho Fukada. I recently read an article about the mass graves developing out of the devastation Japan had to endure. This image, along with the article, brought me to tears, hearing and seeing what is currently happening halfway across the globe. A funeral is meant to be intimate, and private with family and friends who provide each other condolences. Unfortunately for Japan, such solace can not be had. The people of Japan do not bury their dead as we do, but rather cremate the deceased which is a tradition deep-rooted in Buddhism.

My eye follows the image from the bottom of the frame, up to the soldiers and to the left of the frame; in the direction the soldiers walking. The weeds at the bottom of the frame reach out towards the display of shovels and the walking soldiers. One can only imagine that beyond these weeds is more destruction and sadness. Each individual grave, which acts as a compartment in one massive grave, cuts through the top portion of the frame; moving my eye from right to left.

Fukada chose to take this image on a higher vantage point than the soldiers who appear taciturn. This gives an overall layout of the mass grave where soldiers bury the dead. Their modesty is further enhanced by the masks they wear over their faces. Also, the monotony expressed through the pristine, symmetrical graves give no identity to the people who died. The organized layout of the shovels means that Japan, as a society, is trying to stay civilized and resolute through the aftermath of such a catastrophe. However, the weeds that reach out towards the shovels symbolizes the destruction that is still ever present, trying to break Japan's reserve.

What was once a tradition for family and friends, has turned into a makeshift solution to deal with the large number of the dead. Nothing clearly defines this than Fukada's photograph. A father, mother, son, or daughter is buried in this mass grave. Their families could not follow with tradition has they had hoped. This gives us something that we can not fathom; the amount of devastation which greatly affects traditions that a people value highly. Their normal day to day routines and rituals have been disrupted.

Love, Family and Change in Brooklyn

It does not matter how much money one has or what their color of their skin is; everyone is all the same. Everyone deals with similar things in life, and everyone has similar things in their life, such as family, love, youth, work, and culture. This is what Russell Frederick has captured in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn. Frederick has been shooting in this part of town since 1999. He was intrigued to begin photographing because when he "told people where [he] lived, they would cringe as if Bed-Stuy was this place where [he] had to wear a helmet and a bulletproof vest." This was actually the complete opposite.

Many individuals have seen images of the "robberies, shootings and acts of violence in Bed-Stuy," but many have not seen images about all of the positive things in this neighborhood in Brooklyn, like the diversity and the good people. Aside from this there are also changes occurring in the community with rising rent prices and "cast-iron streetlights." You have a lot more "white folk" and "more people are getting involved in the community." A lot of things are changing in Bed-Stuy and some long-lived residents are in opposition to these drastic changes. Russell Frederick wanted to capture where he used to live and did so wonderfully shooting with medium format and 35mm and made his own prints.

The image that really stood out to me was the initial image, a medium format image of a shirtless man with intriguing tattoos and hair extensions. This image was "Summer 2006: Supa Nova Slom, a rapper, author and community activist, shows off his tribute to Egyptian ancestors. Fulton Street." This exposure captures a wide variety of aspects of Bed-Stuy from the way the buildings are and how they are maintained, to what kind of culture embodies this neighborhood. There is a poster in the image that says "I See Black People;" this poster in this particular photograph can be playing on the irony between Bed-Stuy and the stereotypes that go along with the neighborhood.

This series as a whole cannot be contained in one photograph. There are so many different aspects of life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, so many different types of people. The more 'rougher' crowd as seen with "Cas," and the older crowd that has been there for more than forty years as seen with "Mr. and Mrs. Pritchett." I really enjoyed the use of black and white film to create a softer image for such a stereotypically 'harsh' neighborhood. Each and every image seems inviting and welcoming in some way, inviting outsiders into their world and their perspective. Each individual from Bed-Stuy displayed in these photographs has their own sense of style, their own sense of worth. They're proud of their neighborhood and where they live and they want the world to see that.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/love-family-and-change-in-brooklyn/

Cracked Grounds and Houses

“A woman using a cell phone examined the littered ground in Kesennuma, a seaside town in Miyagi Prefecture, where her house stood before it was done destroyed on March 11 by the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan.”

This picture was taken by Carlos Barria on March 28^th, 2011. This image is used to show the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake that happened in Japan on March 11^th, 2011. Japan was hit by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and followed after by a tsunami leaving Japan in devastation.

In this particular image you can feel the pain and suffering from not only the lady pictured but the whole community who may have lived there. This natural disaster caused this woman to be in a place where she once lived but no longer recognizes. She comes back to this spot where she use to live only to see her things along with others in a million pieces. When I see this picture I feel that the blurry sheds and buildings in the background and the sharp images in front demonstrate or stress the importance of help that Japan needs. Looking at her facial expression on the phone makes me feel like she’s telling her family what exactly it is that she’s looking at, and sharing all the emotions of being at what use to be her home.

This picture works well to illustrate the pain and misfortunate that most of Japan is currently going through. I think this picture works well alone, because it shows us expressions from a human being, ruined and abandoned houses from the earthquake. I feel this picture could open the eyes of people outside of Japan who may not know what’s going on. This is really happening and although this happened a few weeks ago, there are thousands of people still without homes.

Documenting the Creative Process

Ruth Fremson's creative solution to designer Joseph Altuzarra's restrictions on
photography during the creative process of designing his clothing line.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/shooting-fashion-but-not-too-much-of-it/

     This photo is part of a series by Ruth Fremson, who photographed designer Joseph Altuzarra for the Times. Not only were her photos presented on the Lens Blog, but they were also used for the profile piece "Another Season, Another Show" published on the first day of Fashion week. In this series, Ms. Fremson documents the creative process of Mr. Altuzarra as best she can, due to his many stipulations and restrictions on her photographs. Seeing as these photos were coming out before his clothing was going to hit the runway, there were several creative roadblocks in Ms. Fremson's way. As a journalist, they frustrated her, but as an artist, she was inspired to use what was in her surroundings (such as mirrors), and open up her field of vision to an intriguing point of view.
     The image is of half a model (all the photographer was permitted to show), with the designer shown in the mirror on the right hand side of the image. The two subjects are kept neatly in their own separate backgrounds, that are connected by the exposed pipe on the white wall of the work space. I feel that this is what gives the photograph some artistic resonance, and a meaning to the image itself. The entire series of work is meant to show the creative process of the designer, and the connection he has with his work. The composition of this piece perfectly showcases how a clothing designer may be detached from his pieces, be it by gender, physical distance, or something else, but there is always a deeper, personal connection with every garment the designer may lay hands on.
     I was drawn to this image because it was different from everything else I'd been seeing on the Lens Blog, and as important as war photography is, I feel this is documenting something I can not only understand, but something that makes me get interested in the back story of the photograph itself. From the series of photos presented, I feel as thought I'm getting to know Mr. Altuzarra, but at the same time, I feel like I'm intruding on a moment of fierce focus and concentration on his work. The passion that is conveyed through the photos is very compelling.

Mongolian Diptychs Tell of Profound Change

Mongolian photographer A Yin documented the last nomads of his home province of Inner Mongolia. The series shows how these last nomads succumbed to changing traditions due to the increasing development in China.

The photographer chose to pair two images together (diptychs): one of a person in traditional clothing and traditional environment, and another of the person in western clothing and what looks like a ‘developed’ setting. This approach helps the viewer establish the rather startling differences that happened in this nomadic culture in just a matter of years.

All the images were taken in a straightforward manner; however, for me, the pair that carries this whole series was this one:

In the first image, an Asian-looking boy is standing in front of a rudimentary wall, wearing traditional nomad clothes; he is holding a baby sheep while another is at his feet. Next to him is what seems to be a shepherd’s shaft or something of the sorts. Being in black and white, the picture has this sense of timelessness. The boy’s clothing gives us the impression that this picture was taken centuries ago. The photo next to it is one of the same boy who appears to be in a classroom. He is in totally different apparel: faded jeans, a pink tee shirt and sneakers (the epitome of western dressing) in front of a computer with an earpiece on his head. 

Pairing these images together shows us how much this kid changed at least in appearance over the course of 4 years (according to the caption). To think that this change only happened in a four-year period is astounding. We can only imagine how this boy must have changed culturally also. In a couple more generations the traditions of these nomads might be totally altered and might not even exist in its pure form anymore.

     This culture is obviously in decline. A Yin, the photographer, wants to show this declivity through this ongoing series. While the picture that I chose was evocative and spoke to me the most, I feel these photographs work better as a series because after all one picture cannot say all there is to say about a culture. The series was very moving especially after reading the photographer’s point of view on the series and his reason of doing this. A Yin is documenting a disappearing culture, his disappearing culture.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/mongolian-diptychs-tell-of-profound-change/

Andrea Diefenbach

Andrea Diefenbach from the series, "Country Without Parents"

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/children-heading-households-in-moldova/

In her series, “Country Without Parents,” Andrea Diefenbach documents the lives of children in Moldova whose parents have immigrated to Italy to find work, leaving them to raise themselves. Moldova is a very small and very poor country with little jobs. Due to the lack of jobs, parents are forced to abandon their homes and families in Moldova and find work in neighboring countries, mostly Italy. The parents leave their children to either raise themselves or be raised by grandparents, sending back small funds and parcels of food to help with support. With little or no parental supervision an entire generation of Moldovan children are forced to become adults at a young age.

The image above is a color photograph that depicts two girls, Olga and Sabrina, as they get ready to go to school. Olga, the older girl, is helping the younger girl, Sabrina do her hair, an action usually seen being done by a mother to a daughter. The image is very grainy/noisy which adds the mood of squalor due to the lack of light in the environment they are in. The girls are in a rundown room with old furniture and a television that has a cartoon playing on it and stuffed animals on top of it. The contrast of the motherly action and the television with cartoons and stuffed animals conveys that these children are stuck in between two generations. They are trying to live the lives of normal kids, watching cartoons, going to school, and owning stuffed animals, but at the same time they are forced to be adults and do tasks that are meant for parents such as cooking and cleaning.

Although the above image is the strongest in the series and best conveys the message of the series, I believe without the context of the other images it would be unable stand alone. The series will not affect how I go about getting my images, but it will get me to start looking for subject matter that is completely unknown to me. Before seeing this series I honestly did not even know there was a country called Moldova, yet alone the social issues going on there. But thanks to Diefenbach’s images I now know of this generation of children that are growing up without parents.

Pictures of the Day: Japan and Elsewhere

The New York Times series by Hiroto Sekiguchi shows the hardship Japan is currently going through due to the recent disasters that have occurred. “In Onagawa, in northern Japan, Yoshikatsu Hiratsuka grieved in front of the place where his mother was buried under wreckage from last week’s tsunami.” This image shows emotional Hiratsuka crying over the loss of his mother. Sekiguchi’s image shows not only Hiratsuka's stuggles but the struggle all Japan ‘s citizens are currently going through even those here in the US and around the world.

The photo depicts Yoshikatsu Hiratsuka, a Japanese man kneeling on the snow covered ground surrounded by debris from the tsunami that hit his home country of Japan. Hiratsuka is crying in front of his mother’s current place of burial. The emotion on his face is a strong reminder of the disasters that have occurred throughout the country. The hardship that each resident and Japanese native is going through is being shown through Hiratsuka’s tears.

Hiroto Sekiguchi’s photograph grabs my attention because it is so recent and very serious. Thousands of people have been displaced and an alarming amount of citizens have died. Other pictures in this series are not as affective as Hiratsuka’s, mainly because there is no emotion being displayed in any other person’s face throughout the rest of the series.

An Ancient Culture in Mountainous Mexico

The community stew at the Virgin of Guadalupe celebration in Cusarare.

This series called Tarahumara or Raramuri by photographer Ruben E. Reyes caught my attention because a struggle between old fashioned and modern cultures is something that I am very familiar with. Reyes is a documentary style photographer that has traveled the world capturing different cultures of societies. In this series he is trying to show the lives of the indigenous Tarahumara people of Northern Mexico. This society, which is located at high elevations in mountains in Northern Mexico, is known for their old fashion way of life. They reside in these mountains because their ancestors fled from the Spanish centuries ago. Despite the image that people of Mexico may have of the Tarahumara people, Reyes is trying to show that this culture is also struggling with modernization. 

In the Lens blog entry about Reyes, the author states that Reyes grew up about 50 miles outside of the mountainous area yet was still called "gringo" (a word used to describe people of Caucasian decent). Reyes has explains that this society has a culture of its own and has not been "Mexicanized" yet in 2009, when he went to photograph, there were modernized updates to their old fashion ways. As is stated in the caption, this photograph was taken during a community stew as they were celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe (a very important religious figure in the Mexican culture). We can begin by noting that the entire action of what is being photographed is now very uncommon. Many Mexican people no longer follow traditional religious practices, such as community celebrations, but have rather converted to Catholicism. 

One of the differences that was described in the Lens Blog entry is the clothing. Reyes notes that people would wear loin cloths as every day clothing but now hooded sweatshirts and jeans are becoming increasingly popular. When  paying close attention to the details of this photograph we can note that Reyes includes both the old fashioned and modern ways the Tarahumara people are dressing. Most of the little boys in the photograph are wearing hooded sweatshirts, a coat or jeans. For us, dressing like this is not something that is out of the ordinary but it is different when these boys are compared to the girls that are in the center of the photograph. Naturally, our eyes gravitate to the brightest parts of the picture which is focused on the women and the soup brewing at center. Both of the older women are wearing skirts and wrapped in cloth, rather then coats. By placing a little girl wearing a jacket over a hooded sweatshirt in the middle of the two women wrapped in cloths, we can note that the modernization is changing by generation and not gender. The younger the subject in the photograph, the more modern they are dressing and the less interested they seem the the celebration to Guadalupe. 

When I first began looking at this series by Reyes, I was immediately caught by its subject matter before an image. Maybe it is my own experience with a similar, yet, less drastic struggle in cultures, that has intrigued me about his work. The more I studied this one image, the more I saw how Reyes strategically structured all subjects in this photograph. Even though this image stands strong on its own in terms of subject matter and structure, I do not believe the true intentions of Reyes' work could be illustrated by just looking at this picture. Even though sometimes a photograph should be able to speak for itself, sometimes I think a little background information it is necessary in order for the purpose of the piece to be recognized. 

-Vanessa Sanchez 

A Muse Named Patti Smith

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/a-muse-named-patti-smith/

I chose two images of Patti Smith photographed by Judy Linn. "Patti Smith, at 450 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn. 1969." and "Ms. Smith at Rockefeller Center. Early 1970's." Judy Linn collaborated with Patti Smith to make photos that "echoed film stills and fashion spread." I really like these photographs because they're personal, random, experimental, etc... I love portraiture and I find people fascinating, so why not document a person who inspires you so much? I think that there's so much behind every person's eyes, and with a camera you have the (possible) ability to capture one instant of someone's life along with everything that makes them who they are.

Judy Linn was introduced to Patti Smith in the late 1960's by their boyfriends (Robert Mapplethorpe was Smith's.) They began to produce artwork together and Smith ultimately became a muse to Linn. Smith enjoyed being the actress in Linn's photographs and said that Linn "would print pictures unlike anyone else’s, "tender and gritty." The photos above definitely reflect a kind of grittiness and almost an ethereal type of feeling, especially in the way that the mirror of the first photo is out of focus and Smith's hair flies around her face in the second. They're very quiet photographs too, which is strange because Patti Smith wasn't a quiet person. She was the 'godmother of punk,' a poet, an artist, an activist.

I think all of the images that accompany the article could stand alone but I like the idea that they are a part of a series that spans years. The fact that Linn and Smith collaborated together for so long shows that sometimes different types of artists work wonderfully together and I'm sure so much was learned. The photographer Judy Linn and the images she produced inspire me to follow the things and people that act as muses in my own life.

In Japan’s Rubble, Fragments of Lives Past

There are many shots of the devastation happening in post earthquake and tsunami Japan right now but Ko Sasaki’s Series “In Japan’s Rubble, Fragments of Lives Past” brings to light that everything, including memories, can also be swept away by disaster. The images confront us with the physical aftermath of shattered homes and lives. Crushed to bits of ruble, the scattered fragments of people’s pasts lay littering the land. Sasaki’s main focus in the series was to highlight the pictures and snapshots from the lives lost that he found now spread throughout this wreckage.

The photograph shows a meticulously laid out photo album laying open, each photo affixed with a hand labeled caption. However, the pages are soiled with dirt and it lies on the ground pinned under wood, trash, and other rubble. Wooden fragments occupy much of the space within the photograph and in a way frame the picture making it feel very constrained and cluttered. Everything is brown and sullied except for the blue page of the book which stands opposite from the page with the photos. Its bright color keeps drawing the eye back to it making it almost more important than the photos to its opposite. This sea of blue severs as a reminder of the water, which overtook these people and then, in a sense, also became more important than the people.

Generally, pictures are put into albums so they can be cherished and remain undamaged. However, the wooden “x” formed over the album servers as a stamp, marking the book as void. These tangible memory fragments have been stripped from the family and irreparably damaged. As an inanimate victim, the album now stands to directly illustrate the lives that were lost. In its images we can find the humanity within the devastation and the few traces of life that remain, and in that we can relate to the loss.

Any and all semblances of life as it was, were swept away and Sasaki’s photographs highlight this by emphasizing the small and simple, and in doing so giving a much larger depiction. These small pictures are just pieces of monumental memories, the albums a material version of a person’s whole lifetime. The series as a whole can be summarized within one image, but the more of them you see the stronger the human connection is built. Seeing the photos of new babies, weddings, and laughing children, it becomes abundantly clear the sheer number of people effected by this travesty. The rest of Ko Sasaki’s can be found on the New York Times Lens Blog.