Life Onboard LAST UPDATE  May 12, 2010
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March 5, 2010 Yoshii Yutaka – Capturing the reality of poverty in Peru
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For almost four decades Yoshii Yutaka has captured the images of Peru’s people and cultural heritage, but documenting the lives of children has become a life-long devotion.
Yoshii Yutaka, like many young adventurers, finished school and set off to see the world. In 1972, two years after his graduation from the photography programme at Nihon University, he headed to South America. “I loved to travel. I was more or less a hippie,” says Mr Yoshii, “(But) I did take a couple of snaps when I was a hippie.” He eventually made his way to Peru, where he developed his love of the culture and people, and began his career as a photographer and writer: Today, he publishes his own books, is a respected archaeological photographer and a freelance reporter for Japan’s Kyodo News Agency.
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“What I don’t want everybody to feel is sympathy for these children,” Mr Yoshii says. He wants people to share the children’s stories.
He used to shoot his photos without any real relation to his subjects: “I just went to the cities and towns and took the pictures of the children and the background.” But, after meeting a man named Alejandro from MNNATSOP* -- an organisation supporting Peru’s child labourers – Mr Yutaka started working with poor or disadvantaged children to promote their situation. Through this he gained more than a career.

“I’m pretty much a father to 25 children … from all over Peru.” he says of the adopted family he supports. Some of those kids are still in school, while others are all grown up. A few of them, he adds, are still with working with MNNATSOP, helping to end the cycle of poverty. “I believe while I’m alive I will never stop what I am doing and I believe my children will never stop what they are doing to help the next generation.”

Read about Peace Boat’s visit to MNNATSOP and MANTHOC here.
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Showing pictures to participants was only a sample of the reality he hoped they would experience during their time in the country.

Mr Yoshii doesn’t really consider himself a journalist, even though he’s often introduced that way. “What I’m doing is writing articles showing the difference in cultures, between the people here and the people there.” He wants people to better understand the cultural and economic difference between Peru and Japan. Over the course of six lectures and slideshows onboard Peace Boat, he opened participants’ eyes to the rich cultural history of the land of the Incas, the country’s tumultuous political history and the struggles faced by its working children. “I was trying to show them what reality is and not what a picture is.”

“What I’m trying to do is show what I have seen,” he says, “I want to make other people know what is happening.”
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Participants who joined Mr Yoshii on a visit to MNNATSOP, in Lima, had the chance to discuss poverty in Peru with kids who work to support their families or survive on their own.

Interestingly enough, his subjects don’t often see the shots he’s taken; his photography is meant for audiences outside of Peru, specifically in Japan. “At the base of what I’m trying to do is show that there is a gap between culture and between people and make sure people acknowledge this gap.”

Japan has a “perfect” image, but that’s not necessarily reality, he says adding that he thinks the country isn’t in the best situation at the moment. The nation hasn’t addressed its own poverty problems well and rather than just having a gap between rich and poor, there’s discrimination. “Our society is mainly surrounded by consumption; because there is consumption there is demand. And due to that, everybody is pretty much in a race. They’re trying to put themselves ahead of others.” He thinks visiting organisations such as MNNATSOP while travelling is a special opportunity and he hopes people will take what they learn back with them, to teach others that poverty abroad is a result of affluence at home.

“I want everyone to think about how they can relay the message (of the children) and what reality is to them,” he says.

*MNNATSOP – Movimiento Nacional de Niños/Niñas y Adolecentes Trabajadores Organizados del Perú (National Movement of Organised Child and Adolescent Workers of Peru). More information at www.mnnatsop-peru.org (ESP only)

With translation assistance by Touma Frank.