PhotoVoice began preparations immediately after the earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. Since June of 2011, we opened operations in three prefectures affected by the disasters: Fukushima (Koriyama City), Miyagi (Sendai City, Ishinomaki City), and Iwate (Miyako City). Our activities continue to expand with the establishment of a PhotoVoice group of young women from Fukushima City, Fukushima in February of 2014, a group of women refugees in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area that June, and a group in Onagawa City, Miyagi Prefecture that July. For more information, please visit our Activities page.

PhotoVoice exhibitions have been held across Japan and abroad, with locations in Fukushima, Sendai, Paris, and the United States. Through our community forums and meetings, members have been able to share the background and intention behind their photos with an audience, who in turn engage in discussion and dialogue.

PhotoVoice was officially approved as an NPO on June 17, 2014 and has since taken on a variety of new projects, including the developing of a PhotoVoice Archive and the publication of our own PhotoVoice Book. We plan to take on even more projects and activities going forward.

 

●Major Activity So Far

※ view a complete record of our activities here.

June 2011:  First PhotoVoice meeting of Fukushima Prefecture held in Koriyama City
June 2011:  First PhotoVoice meeting of Miyagi Prefecture held in Sendai City
November 2011:  First PhotoVoice meeting of Iwate Prefecture held in Miyako City (initial planning meeting held in June 2011)
October 2012:  Second PhotoVoice group of Miyagi Prefecture established in Sendai City
October 2012:  New PhotoVoice group and meetings established in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture
November 2012:  First PhotoVoice Exhibition & Community forum held in Nihonmatsu City and Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture
February 17, 2013:  Launched Project Blog, “PhotoVoice – Photograph, Discuss, Share… Move”
November 2012:  PhotoVoice Week in Tokyo, PhotoVoice Exhibition & Community Forum, “PhotoVoice: Photograph, Discuss, Share… Act. Women’s Perspective of The Great East Japan Disaster”
March – May 2013:  PhotoVoice Exhibition & Community Forum held in University Paris Diderot and The University of Michigan
January 13 – January 19, 2014:  PhotoVoice Exhibition and Meeting, “PhotoVoice from Women of Fukushima, Ishinomaki, Miyako, and Sendai — Photograph, Discuss, and Share their Experiences with the Great East Japan Disaster” at L-Park Sendai, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
March 4 – March 16, 2014:  PhotoVoice Exhibition held at MC FOREST in Tokyo, in collaboration with Oxfam Japan
June 17, 2014:  NPO established
March 10, 2015:  PhotoVoice listed in the National Women’s Education Center (NWEC) Archive for Post Earthquake Disaster Women Support
March 14, 2014:  PhotoVoice website launched
March 14 – March 16, 2015:  Various events held in conjunction with the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
March 16, 2015:  PhotoVoice Book “Our PhotoVoice of 3.11：Then, Now, and Moving Forward” published