Q&A between Photo Editor David Lucas and VII Network photographer Donald Weber
DL: Why did you decide to cross into the exclusion zone against government orders?
DW: Sometimes you have to break rules to do the things that need to be done. If we waited for the government to allow us entry, we'd still be waiting and confusion would reign.
DL: What was the atmosphere like inside the exclusion zone?
DW: Incredibly surrealistic. What struck me most was the sound, or total lack thereof. Usually when you say to someone "it's so quiet!" there is audible white noise — an electrical line, a distant car, even a bird or the wind. In Odaka, inside the exclusion zone, there was total silence. I had only heard something like that once before, in Chernobyl.
DL: You went into the exclusion zone around Chernobyl in 2005. How did the exclusion zone around Fukoshima compare?
DW: I have been to Chernobyl numerous times since then, and have always wondered to myself, what would this place have looked like 20, 25 years ago? In the Fukushima Exclusion Zone, I found my answer.
DL: You encountered several people in the exclusion zone around Fukushima when you were there. Why were they there and were they concerned about the health risks?
DW: Most people I think feel they need to move on, regardless of the risks. Many were aware that staying there could potentially harm their health. A few of the people I met were adamant about staying, mostly to stay with their pets (pets are not allowed out of the exclusion zone) or they were elderly and had nowhere else to go.
DL: Logistically how did you get around? What kind of obstacles did you face as a foreign photojournalist?
DW: I didn’t experience anything too difficult or trying from local journalists. I think the issue is the extreme reserve of the Japanese people: it was very difficult to have them open up to you and share their thoughts and feelings. That, for me, was the most difficult.
DL: Were you concerned about your health and safety? What kind of precautions did you take?
DW: I have to say not that I wasn't concerned, but I definitely I have respect for radiation! I am certainly no expert, but I read about the levels you are allowed to accumulate on a safe basis. Basically, what I endured was the equivalent of a chest x-ray. Radiation also is essentially a dust, it is at the whims of the wind. So you have to be careful and pay attention to weather patterns and watch where the wind is coming from. My years at camp worked, as we stayed to the north, as the winds were travelling from north to south.
DL: Are you planning on going back?
DW: I would really like to go back, I think it's such a compelling story, and a mysterious story. For me, it's psychological, it's a terrifying experience these people are living through.
