Altered books are published books, old or new, modified by creative means into works of art. The waR we were is an altered book. The foundation is a Japanese children’s book titled Full of Happinesswritten by Toshihiko Shinzawa, illustrated by Taeko Ōshima, and published by Hikari-no-Kuni in April 2006.
Two copies of the book were disassembled and reconstructed into one accordion book. The illustration are overlaid with photo-montages of friends and family members who lived through World War II, juxtaposed with collected photographs of the effects of war on children. Photographs were manipulated in Photoshop, printed, and pasted onto pages of the book.
I grew up in Tokyo during World War II and its aftermath. I remember my childhood as a happy one. My friends and I played and laughed, played and fought, played and cried. We all knew hunger. We knew sickness and injuries without cure. We knew apprehensions without knowing the cause. We watched white beams of searchlights and bright flares of burning cities as if watching mid-summer fireworks festivals on Sumida River, but perhaps not so happily. Within the world unleashed by adults, we were children doing what children do.
Front Cover
“Fat man” atomic bomb
Left to right: Chuck, Bill, Ute, Nori, Ed, Penny
Back Cover
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial Dome
Mushroom cloud from an atomic bomb explosion at Bikini Atoll
Penny
Title Page
Clockwise from top left: Chuck, Nori, Bill, Penny, Fumi, Ute, Ed
Innocence
Clockwise from top left: Ute, Kei, Motomu, Penny, Jim, Bill, Chuck, Ed, Elaine
Disagreement
Clockwise from top left: Fumi, Eiji, Atsuko, Paul, Motomu, Nori, Jim, Ute, Penny
Contents
Images of family and friends as children during the World War II together with images of the destruction and effects on children in Europe and Japan.
Structure
Altered book. Two codex books converted to an accordion book.
Technique
Copies of photos are pasted on the pages.
Year
2007
