Shomei tomatsu biography for kids

Japanese photographer

Shōmei Tōmatsu (東松 照明, Tōmatsu Shōmei, January 16, 1930 – December 14, 2012)^[1] was a Japanese photographer.^[2] He is known primarily for his images that depict the impact of World War II on Japan and the subsequent occupation of U.S.

forces. As one of the leading postwar photographers, Tōmatsu is attributed with influencing the younger generations of photographers including those associated with the magazine Provoke (Takuma Nakahira and Daido Moriyama).^[3][4][5]

Biography

Youth

Tōmatsu was born in Nagoya in 1930.

As an adolescent during World War II, he was mobilized to support Japan's war effort. Like many Japanese students his age, he was sent to work at a steel factory and underwent incessant conditioning intended to instill fear and hatred towards the British and Americans.^[6] Once the war ended and Allied troops took over numerous Japanese cities, Tōma