80 Years Ago Today

80 years ago today Hiroshima became the first target of a nuclear weapon strike. Most of the city was destroyed and an estimated 90 to 166,000 people died either directly from the blast or in the following months. The photographs that were taken afterwards are not unlike recent aerial photographs of the destruction in Gaza. By coincidence I looked out this morning and saw this cloud hanging in the sky like a mushroom. As luck would have it, as I snapped a photo on my phone camera a bird flew into the frame. The cloud seemed like an ominous reminder of the destructive power of war, whilst the bird seemed symbolic of freedom and the ability to rise above adversity.