In 2008, Leiko Shiga became the village photographer of the small coastal town of Kitakama in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Shiga documented annual festivals and community events—as well as the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and related tsunami that leveled Kitakama and killed 60 residents. This natural disaster caused wide-spread destruction to the surrounding natural environment, and it also critically damaged three Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. Rasen Kaigan 45 reveals the extent of this devastation and subsequent attempts at recovery. Shiga’s image of a solitary figure transports the viewer to a liminal place of deep emotion in the face of such tragedy. The artist has said, “my photographs are a way of bringing something back to life.”