Separating Fact from Fiction in the Iconic Hiroshima Mushroom Cloud Photos

The Clouds of Hiroshima

I examine the most famous photographs of the Hiroshima bombing to distinguish between the actual atomic mushroom cloud and the later pyrocumulus smoke clouds caused by the firestorm. By analyzing images taken by S/Sgt. George Robert Caron from the Enola Gay and ground-level shots by Mitsuo Matsushige, I reveal how cropping and timing have shaped our historical understanding of the detonation's true scale and appearance.

"Anyone who has tried to photograph large clouds or buildings knows that it is very difficult to really capture the lived sense of scale, so if this is what the photo looks like, the reality must have been even more awesome."