The Memories of Others
Akihiko Okamura

The Troubles is the struggle for independence in Northern Ireland that lasted from 1969 to 1998. It attracted a large number of foreign photojournalists. One of them was Akihiko Okamura (1929 – 1985). Okamura’s work in Ireland has remained virtually unknown until now. His pictures of the Northern Irish conflict have now been collected in The Memories of Others.   

The Memories of Others, Akihiko Okamura
Ring of Steel Checkpoint, Belfast City centre, Northern Ireland, 1970s

Akihiko Okamura was born into an aristocratic family in Japan. He became a renowned war photographer during the first years of the Vietnam war and later, as he documented wars in Biafra and the Middle East. Because of his reporting on the Vietnam war, he was not allowed to enter South Vietnam for five years. Okamura decided to turn his attention to Ireland. After an initial trip to Ireland in 1968, he settled the following year south of Dublin. There he lived for sixteen  years until his death in 1985. From there he traveled frequently to Derry and other parts in Northern Ireland to document the country’s Troubles. 

Akihiko Okamura, The Memories of Others
British soldiers resting at a wall, Divis Street, West Belfast, Northern Ireland, c. 1969

In 1969 violence resumed in Northern Ireland. On 12 August unionists (protestants) were allowed to march along the edge of the Bogside, a nationalist (catholic) neighbourhood. After being bombarded with stones and petrol bombs from nationalists, the police (overwhelmingly protestant), backed by unionists tried to storm the Bogside. It resulted in three days of continuous fighting: the Battle of the Bogside. In response to this events the violence escalated. The police were unable to maintain order and the British Army was deployed.

Akihiko Okamura, The Memories of Others
Street memorial on Lecky Road, Derry City, 1971, marking the site where Desmond Beattle (19 years old) was shot and killed on 8 July 1971 by the British Army. Seamus Cusack (28 years old) was shot dead near this spot about twelve hours later. These men were the first people shot dead by the British Army in Derry.

Okamura’s images are imbued with soft, muted colors that contrast with the violence of the situation in which they were created. The violence shifts to the background. The violence is suggested rather than spelt out. Focus is mainly on the day-to-day existence, the banal, the obvious, the ordinary. And the impact of war on the ordinary everyday life. The absurdities, incongruities, and disruptions of life during wartime. Amid war life continues. Despite the oppressive upheaval of conflict, people continue with their lives as best they can. This jarring, potent blend of conflict and continuing living is found throughout The Memories of Others. 

The Memories of Others

Photographer: Akihiko Okamura

Original french edition published by Editions Xavier Barral.

English edition published by Prestel

Published in 2024

Hardcover, 19,5 x 28,0 cm, 160 pages, 75 color illustrations

Texts by Trish Lambe, Pauline Vermare, Seán O’Hagan, Kusi Okamura

 

Special mention for the Historical Book award 2024 at the Les Rencontres de la Photographie festival in Arles