OKINAWA!!

During a trip in 2019, Thierrée explored this island, where thirty-two US military bases are still in operation, staffed by some 10,000 service members. She created a series of black-and-white photographs in 6 × 9 (vertical) format, paying particular attention to the immediate vicinity of each base, where nature seemed to be gaining the upper hand, as if offering resistance to this continuing occupation. This first series inspired her to broaden the scope of her explorations. In 2023, she travelled to the Smithsonian Institution Archives in Washington to carry out research on the botanist Egbert H. Walker (1899–1991), who had directed a large-scale project in the Ryukyu Islands after the war. Under a Servicemen’s Collecting Program, Walker engaged US Armed Forces personnel to collect natural specimens (plants, corals, minerals, etc.) near where they were stationed. In 1951, he thus supervised the collection of more than 8,000 plant specimens from areas directly affected by the tragic and violent events that took place during the Battle of Okinawa, in 1945. Thierrée selected forty herbarium plates from among these archives, which she photographed in black and white.