Tsunami One Year On

Al Jazeera’s Matt Allard:

Over the past twelve months, I have spent more than 150 days in Japan covering the initial earthquake and tsunami and the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which continues to haunt the country today.



I was back this time to cover the one year anniversary. During the past year, I have seen an unprecedented scale of devastation and destruction. I have also learnt so much about radiation and the vastly different opinions from experts on the dangers of low level radiation. I have filmed and spoken to so many people who have told me horrific accounts of what they went through. I have found these people very inspirational and, through our repeated visits, now consider many of them friends. They graciously gave up their time to speak to us and tell us their stories with real heart and soul. On numerous occasions when listening to their stories or seeing people break down it was hard not to shed a tear. More than ever, it became important for me to shoot stories in a way that truly reflected who the individuals are and what they have gone through.



When people open up to you and let you into their lives, it is the least I can do to strive to depict their stories to the best of my abilities. Great cameras certainly help, but I often found it more important to let the people forget that the camera was there. Giving people space and time makes them feel more relaxed and makes what you shoot look more natural. I sometimes leave a camera rolling and walk away or keep rolling on one shot for a few minutes just so the person forgets that I am there, begins to act spontaneously, or gets lost in their own thoughts. As a style, I prefer to set up my shots rather than follow people with a hand-held camera, but it is also important for me to film people doing what they would naturally do and capture spontaneity. When shooting set-up shots, I always make sure that the person is comfortable. Apart from set-up interviews I also prefer not to use external lighting if I can avoid it. I would like to make the story look exactly like it is in reality. Cameras like the F3 cope very well in various lighting conditions.