Charlottesville photographer talks about his story of Gunkanjima

This is a first-hand account of an island in Japan called Gunkanjima. In the spring of 2005, I traveled to this island to photograph and explore its history. Gunkanjima was an old coal mining island that holds the highest population density recording in the world. In the 1970’s the island was shut down, leaving behind a ghost town of a once thriving society.