Swept Away - Rafu Shimpo

The photos line one wall of the Hiroshi Watanabe Studio in West Hollywood, stretching from floor to ceiling, from corner to corner. From a distance, they make up a sepia-colored collage, a collection of seemingly abstract images whose whites, yellows, browns, and distorted patterns make them look as if they’ve caught fire. Up close, though, signs of everyday life begin to come forward: the headlights of a car, the sleeve of a sweater, a gray hairline, a faded wooden butsudan, and the outline of a fluffy-headed baby with arms outstretched in its crib. These are the photos that were swept away by the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and they make up “Lost and Found,” an exhibit that began in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture.