Hiroshima: Ground Zero 1945 | International Center of Photography
I am constantly impressed with the exhibitions at ICP. This has got to be one of the most eerie group of photographs ever shown. In Brian Sholis' review for art agenda, he offers the best explanation of 'photograms' created by the atomic blast. Here is the paragraph from that review:
The most complex and haunting photographs in the show, however, depict "flash burns." In one image, the shadow of a valve used to seal off a pipe is projected onto the metal surface of the container to which it is attached. Visual habit leads viewers to believe that this is the effect of a sunny day. The caption belies this commonsense response: "'Shadow' of a hand valve wheel on the painted wall of a gas storage tank; radiant heat instantly burned paint where the heat rays were not obstructed." In effect, the nuclear blast—its "bluish white glare"—turned some objects in Hiroshima into light-sensitive surfaces, resulting in what might technically if uneasily be called photograms. I say uneasily because of another, altogether sadder image also included in the show. Here we see the surface of a road, on which an arrow is chalked and labeled "direction of blast." Once again the caption, its neutral language betraying the photograph's scientific purpose, redirects our understanding of the image: "Flash-burn on asphalt on bridge 20, 3,500 feet south from [air zero]. Shadow was cast by a man." Two small circles marked in chalk indicate the placement of the man's feet; one is slightly in front of the other, as if he were mid-stride. The "shadow," this photogram-within-a-photograph, is likely the only extant evidence that someone died on that spot.
Here is a video about the show:
