Nov 06 2014

Dominic Nahr: A Witness In Our Time

by Billy Kung

Eight years ago on a summer morning in Hong Kong, a tall young man arrived at the offices of the local paper to begin his internship as a photographer. With watchful eyes and a smile exuding quiet confidence, he went about his work. Dominic Nahr saw things differently than other photographers at the scene. After a week of going through the daily routine of covering assignments—from protest to portraiture and press conferences—it was clear that he would one day be recognized for his vision and sensibility.

Nahr was born in Switzerland, raised in Hong Kong, studied in Toronto and now based in Nairobi, Kenya. Among many of his accolades, Nahr was awarded the Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award in 2009; Pictures of the Year International Awards in 2012; and World Press Photo in General News Single category in 2013. He is currently a contract photographer for TIME and his work is represented by O’Born Contemporary Gallery in Toronto, Canada.

Since 2006, Nahr has covered more distance and witnessed more historical events than anyone might have in their entire lifetime. He has documented stories across the African continent, from Somalia to Senegal, Mali to South Africa. He was also a witness to the Arab Spring in Egypt, famine in Somalia, border conflict between the governments of Khartoum and Juba, political unrest and terrorist attacks in Kenya, and war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In March of 2011, Nahr arrived 12 hours after the earthquake hit Japan, laden with the mourning process of the recent loss of his father. In an interview with Fader magazine, Nahr said: “Japan was perfect for the state I was in. I was sleeping in a temple at one point. The temple was still standing in this city with, I think, like 30 other people who had all lost family members. It was really cold, we were all over our fires and we were sleeping in the same room together. We were right next to each other in perfect order with tiny little mattresses all perfectly in the same grid system. I did that for five or six days. I really found peace with what I was going through personally. It changed the way I shot. I was trying to find narrative that wasn’t directly connected to news, but connected to the people and what I felt there.”

Over the next three years, Nahr returned over several trips to continue his documentation of the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear fallout in Fukushima. He is currently producing a publication that takes a critical but empathetic look at the aftermath. When asked by Leica.com whether photography can change the world, Nahr responded, “I am not sure if photography can change the world or help the subjects’ lives. I believe in recording history, because if I don’t, who is to say it really happened.”

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. North Kivu, Kibumba. 2008. Over 25, 000 people carry their belongings as they flee one of the main refugee camps due to fighting on Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 near Kibumba in eastern Congo. Government soldiers were forced to retreat as they were being pushed closer to Goma by rebels of renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda. Copyright the artist.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. North Kivu, Kibati. 2008. Four Congolese government soldiers shelter from the rain on the frontline about five kilometers north of Kibati. CNDP Rebels and government soldiers are separated by less then half a kilometer and fighting flares up regularly. Copyright the artist.

EGYPT. Cairo. February 3, 2011. Pro Mubarak protesters make their way towards Tahrir square where they violently clash with anti Murbarak protesters. Copyright the artist.

EGYPT. Cairo. February 4, 2011. Chaos erupts as pro-Mubarak supporters attack anti-government protesters in an empty lot along side the front-lines during protests against president Hosni Mubarak in Tahrir Square. Copyright the artist.

EGYPT. Cairo. January 29, 2011. A protestor holding empty glass bottles takes cover behind a wall during protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak which pushed towards Tahir Square. Copyright the artist.

EGYPT. Cairo. January 30, 2011. The National Democratic Party building along the Nile can still be seen engulfed in flames a day after it was set on fire during clashes with police at protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak which pushed towards Tahir Square. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Natori, 2011.
Debris can be seen scattered while fires burn in the background two days after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast coast of Japan. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Misawa, 2011.
Locals and fishermen clean up the area in and around the Misawa port. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Natori, 2012
Monks watch a bonfire while wind pushes burning ash through the air during a memorial services held in Natori a year after the Tsunami disaster which destroyed most of the city and the rest of the north east coast in Tohuku. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Minami Sanriku, 2011. Survivors go to sleep inside a cold room before a mass funeral at a Daiou temple. Copyright the artist.

Sudan, Heglig, 2012.
A Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) soldier lies dead in a pool of oil next to a leaking oil facility after heavy fighting between southern Sudanese SPLA troops, after they entered the north Sudan oil town of Heglig mid April. Copyright the artist.

Sudan, Unity, 2012.
An oil worker stands near where a bomb from SAF forces had hit, while SPLA and Oil workers watch from above. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Fukushima City, 2014. Posters in Fukushima city, which has been hit with a lot of radiation from the stricken Daiichi nuclear plant. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Okuma, 2014.
Inside the Central Control Room for Reactor 1 and 2 which both had a meltdown and exploded after the earthquake and tsunami hit the east coast of japan in 2011. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Namie, 2012.
Police search for remains of missing people inside the nuclear exclusion zone near the damaged Daiichi nuclear power plant one year after the Tsunami hit the north east coast of Japan. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Fukushima City, 2014. Residents stand on the street while rescue teams try and get into a one bedroom apartment after a part time decontamination worker locked himself into his apartment and committed suicide by breathing in burning charcoal on the 1st of April shortly after 9pm. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Namie, 2014.
Dead cows after being thrown inside a large pit after a group of scientists preformed a necropsy on 12 cows donated by farmers who hope the research will prove that the cows are not radiated and they can resume dairy farming. The remains are dumped into a large pit along side almost two thousand cow caresses inside the redzone a few kilometers from the stricken nuclear plant. The scientists are part of a society studying livestock and farmland related to the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. Copyright the artist.

Japan, Aizuwakamatsu, 2014. Idogawa Ikuko 82 (right) holds a picture of their old house which was located in Okuma and now too radiated to return to as her husband Idogawa tsuguo 85 (left) sits with her in their sleeping and living room decorated with trinkets and hand made crafts in the temporary housing they were assigned to. Copyright the artist.

See here for more on Dominic Nahr.

Billy Kung is photo editor at ArtAsiaPacific.

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