Human shadow on Hiroshima bank steps (1945)
The August 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan ushered the world into a strange era of nuclear arms and cold war. But the bomb also left a strange phenomenon – shadows of the people caught outside during the blast. These shadows captured the very last moment of life for those in the bomb’s reach, including this person, resting on the steps outside the Sumitomo Bank building, possibly waiting for it to open for the day.
The shadow is all that is left of whoever was sitting there, caught in the blinding light of the bomb. Sumimoto Bank took care to preserve the only remains of this person, erecting a fence around the shadow in 1959. In 1967, the shadow was covered with tempered glass to protect the shadow. In 1971, when the bank underwent renovation and rebuilding, the stone and shadow were carefully moved to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
