Shomei Tomatsu, an internationally renowned photographer famous for his shots of atomic-bomb survivors in Nagasaki and postwar scenes in U.S. occupied Okinawa, died Dec. 14 of pneumonia at a hospital in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, his family said Monday. He was 82.
Tomatsu, born Teruaki, began taking pictures as a boy. After graduating from Aichi University, he worked for Tokyo-based Iwanami Shoten Publishers as a photographer before going freelance. In 1959, he formed a photographers' group named Vivo with Eiko Hosoe and Ikko Narahara.
Tomatsu drew attention for his work on Nagasaki A-bomb survivors in a 1961 book in which he collaborated with photographer Ken Domon, who also became known for his coverage of Hiroshima A-bomb survivors.