Bon Ishikawa

The Lamalera village is located in a small volcanic Island, a poor, barren land, and they catch whales to eat. It is the only way for them to survive. The harpooners are called lamafa in the local language. They are the village's pride because they take the whole responsibility for the very dangerous hunting. In 2018. a tragedy struck the village. Benjamin, a young lamafa, was killed during a spear hunting. His father, Ignatius, was devastated, and Benjamin's brother, Demo, was shocked and unable to go hunting. They blame accidents at sea on a victim's family discord in Lamalera. Ignatius, the master boat-builder, decided to build a new traditional whaleboat to reunite the family bond. The whaling boat is 12 meters long, made entirely of hand-crafted wood, not using a single nail, and is considered an intangible cultural asset.

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Nepal. The earthquake caused 3 million people to be affected and over 9000 people died. Japanese photographer Ishikawa Fan flew to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal at the first time, and came to the dangerous zone located in the the Himalayas near the epicenter. In that deserted area, the breathtaking beauty of Laprak village has turned into ruins. The villagers who suffered from the face to face disaster persevered in their survival, bidding farewell to the deceased and moving forward towards a confused future. In this process, there is a collision between government and faith. Is it for survival? Or are we staying with ancient gods to overcome difficulties together?