In the series ひろしま/hiroshima Ishiuchi has photographed preserved garments and objects that were worn by victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 1945. The objects are photographed on a light box, hence acquiring an almost weightless and ephemeral quality.

Unlike the black-and-white images of devastated landscapes often associated with the bombing, Ishiuchi’s colour photographs capture her own moments of encounter with everyday objects that are now preserved at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Testaments to a profound trauma, her images at once illuminate the beauty and complexity of individual lives, and the weight of collective history.