Introduction and a Story about Photography for me
読者のみなさん、こんにちは。Frame Tokyo に今月から入りました、Kyosuke と申します。
現在アメリカ、ニューヨークでデザイナーを、ストリートスナップを独学で勉強しています。無知な私がこのような素晴らしいコレクティブに参加させていただけたこと、こうして記事を書かせていただけることを心から光栄に思っております。
この記事ではFrame Tokyo をすでにご存知の方、写真に興味のある方など読者全ての人が少しでも写真を好きになっていただけるよう、僕が写真と出会ったきっかけと写真についてお話したいと思います。
Thank you so much for finding this article. I am Kyosuke Hamao, who has just joined in Frame Tokyo Collective on the middle of May, 2020. I am a designer and amateur street photographer based in New York, The U.S, and I am so honored to join such a great photography collective in Tokyo Japan and write articles on Frame Tokyo website.
I am going to write my first article about what is photography for me with a strong hope that readers will be able to get interest of photography. I hope everyone will enjoy my article!!
写真との出会い
A Wonderful Encounter with Photography
叔父から譲り受けたNikon F
Nikon F that I have gotten from my uncle
全ての始まりは18歳の頃、写真が趣味の叔父から頂いたNikon Fというフイルムカメラでした。当時の私は写真がどうしても好きという特別な感情もなく、ぼんやりと、まるで我が子のように楽しそうにカメラを手入れしている叔父の姿を後ろから眺めていただけだったのですが、そんな叔父との写真散歩を共にしているうちにある日突然、自分でも写真を撮ってみたい!!と思うようになり、叔父に駄目元で何かちょうだいとおねだりしました。
叔父の部屋に入ると、約10台ほどの名機と呼ばれるフィルムカメラがキレイに棚に飾られていました。その中から「大切に使うんだよ」とNikon Fをいただき、初めて自分のカメラを手にした感動や胸のドキドキは今でも忘れられません。その後はフィルムなしでシャッターを切る練習やNikon Fの専門書を古本屋で探し出し研究したりと、夢中で自分のカメラのことや基礎知識を勉強しました。
The reason I started taking photography was Nikon F, which I got from my uncle when I was
18 years old. At that time, I didn't have any special feeling that I really wanted to get camera or taking photography, and I was just looking at my uncle who was cleaning up his film cameras happily like a kid who is starting his important treasure from his back.
One day, while I was walking with my uncle, suddenly, I started thinking that I would like to take a photo like my uncle, and asked him to get one of his camera. Luckily he accepted my request and took me to his room.
When I entered the room, I saw that about 10 famous film cameras were beautifully displayed and organized on the wooden shelves. From among them, I got a Nikon F and we promised to use it carefully and importantly. I still cannot forget the excitement and moment that I got to
my own first camera and it was supper memorable and impressive.
After that, I practiced shooting without a film, searched for a Nikon F book that I can know what it is at a second-hand bookstore, and studied my camera and basic knowledge.
I was passionately absorbed in photography before I knew it.
大切な言葉
Significant Word from My Uncle
基礎的な知識が身についた時、自分は何を撮りたいのか分からなくなった時がありました。はじめはがむしゃらに風景を撮っていたけれど、一体何に興味があるのか。頭の中でこの
疑問がぐるぐると回り悩んだとき、叔父に相談しました。そして叔父は私にこう言ってくれました。
「写真はとにかく考えちゃダメだ。とにかく自分が気になったら
撮ってみて、撮り溜まったものを見返してその時、自分の内に秘めた
何か少しだけわかる。何を撮りたいのか考える前にまずは撮って撮って撮り続けるんだよ」
この言葉をいただいてから、とにかく撮るという癖が付き、1日にフィルム約５本の撮影を半年間続けたところ悩みが一切無くなり、また写真が楽しくなりました。写真を始めてだいぶん経った今でも、上手く撮れなくなったら叔父の言葉を思い出してとにかく撮ることにしています。
Once I got the basic knowledge about photography, I sometimes didn't know what I wanted to shoot. At first, I was shooting a landscape randomly, but I asked myself what I really have interest of? I could not figure out my question, so I asked my uncle about that and
he gave me a nice comment :
" When you are stacked taking photos, do not think seriously about photography. You just shoot what you felt you want to capture and you would see what you want to capture when you look back your photos you have taken. Just keep going and shooting everyday. "
After receiving his words, I had the habit of taking photos without difficult thought about photography anyway, and after shooting about five films a day for half a year, my question of photography disappeared and, I enjoyed taking pictures again. Even though it has been a while since I started photography, I still remember my uncle's words when I cannot shoot well, and when I got be stacked, I always shoot a lot with no thinking.
写真の可能性
The Possibility of Photography
その後は残念ながら他のことへ費やす時間が増え、写真を撮る機会と欲が薄くなってしまいカメラを棚に置く時間が増えてしまいましたが、今から3年前にまた一から自分自身で真剣に写真を勉強してみようと思いました。
そしてある日、写真に関する本を購入しようとネットで探していると、とある某人気月間
マガジンが世界的に有名な写真家の森山大道氏を全ページ特集しており、当時は氏のことを知らなかったのですがその力強い表紙写真に、まるで背後から鈍器で殴られたかのような強い衝撃を受けました。偶然にも叔父がモノクロを撮っていたという影響で私もモノクロを撮り続けていたという理由もあり、森山大道氏の写真に不思議と引き込まれました。
部屋にある買いためた森山大道氏の著書および写真集一部
My collection of Daido Moriyama's books and his photo books
それからは写真の基礎的な知識を改めて本から学び、幸運にも知人からいただいたOlympusのデジタルカメラで学んだことを実践し街でスナップをし、隙間時間には買い溜めた森山大道氏の著書や写真集を広げ、夜中まで氏の写真論や写真に対する思いを学ぶという生活を
毎日続けました。初めて氏の写真を見て衝撃を受けた時は、単純に表面的な力強さや表現行為に惹かれましたが、氏の著書を幾度も読み返すうちに氏の写真に対する思考や
写真論=内面的な表現行為・手法に惹かれていきました。
森山大道氏も様々な著書で量のない質はない＝できるだけ沢山の写真をとること、ということを書かれていて、叔父の言葉と重なり強い感銘を受けたのもありますが、氏の写真論の
一部である
"写真は記録であり自分の中の、或いは街にある様々な記憶の断片をただ複写することである”
という理論に私は写真に対する強い可能性を覚えました。写真は難しく考えずシンプルに考えれば、目の前の光景や気になった瞬間をただ撮るだけであって、ただ撮ったその1枚の
写真には自分の撮ろうと思った意識的・無意識的な気持ちや被写体の気持ち、記憶、
今という時代の空気など様々な要素がぎっしりと凝縮されている。
だから自分以外の人が写真を見たときに、いつか見た光景や体験したことをふと思い出すような何か不思議な気持ちになったりする時があるし、写真は今を写すものだけれど撮る側、見る側の過去にも深く直結している。さらに時間を置いて数年後に見たときにまた違った気持ちにさせてくれる。
写真は過去と現在と未来を繋げる不思議で素晴らしい表現媒体であると、氏の写真論から思いました。あくまで私の解釈なのでこれが氏の写真論の解釈と同じかどうかは分かりませんんが、だから私は普段スナップをする際は単純に見た光景、または何か分からない、自分の記憶に引っかかるものを日々カメラを通して記録=スナップしていくよう心がけています。
After that, unfortunately I spent more time on other things, lessening the opportunity and desire to take pictures, and more time putting the camera on the shelf, but three years ago, I started from scratch again. I decided to study photography seriously.
One day, when I am searching online to get books about photography, I accidentally found that a world-famous photographer, Daido Moriyama was featured on a popular monthly magazine about life style on every page, and I was strongly shocked with his powerful black and white cover photo. I was mysteriously drawn into Mr. Daido Moriyama's photo because my uncle have been taking black and white photos and I was also as well.
After that, I learned the basic knowledge of photography again from books, and practiced shooting in the city with Olympus digital camera I got from my friend, and repeatedly read Daido Moriyama's books and photo books to study about his theory of photography and his thoughts on photography until midnight.
I continued that every day and I noticed that when I was shocked to see his photo for the first time, I was just simply attracted by superficial Moriyama's unique and powerful expression, but as I repeatedly read his book, I could deeply understand why he has been taking black and white photography, using a strong high contrast and grane on his works. I was attracted to his inner thought of photography and wanted to study more about him and other famous photographer.
Mr. Daido Moriyama wrote in his various books that quantity matters more than quality of photos = taking photos as many as possible, and I was deeply impressed with his word because it was almost same with the word I have gotten from my uncle. However, in his part of photography theory, he says,
"Photography is to record daily life and just copies of the various fragments of memories in the city and hidden memories in your head."
I was impressed with this theory and got a sense that photography has a strong potential.
I thought that photography might be a very simple expression medium that we can just snap what we get interest while walking, and even thought the action of snapping is simple, so many complicated elements, such as photographer's conscious/ unconscious thoughts, subject's thought and feeling, fragments of memories and atmosphere of the age we live now are mixed packed into the photo that was taken.
Therefore, it is very interesting that when someone sees the photo, they can get something strange feeling that they can remember the sight or experience that they saw someday in the past. Even thought photography is to record now, It is directly connected to the past and now, and
photography provides photographers / readers time travel.
I thought from Daido Moriyama's theory of photography that photography is a mysterious and wonderful medium of expression that connects the past, the present, and the future. It's just my interpretation, so I don't know if this is the same as Mr. Moriyama's interpretation of photography. However, I strongly believe how photography has a powerful potential and when I do a snap, I usually try to just record what I see or feel interesting or something that catches my memory. I do not usually snap with a difficult concept and set / have particular photo style.
おわりに
Conclusion
ファインダーや液晶画面に映るものや光景は不思議と、普段私たちが目視しているものとは少し違う気がします。カメラはトイカメラでもインスタントカメラでも何でもいいので、
カメラを一台持って外を歩き、写真を撮ってみてはいかがでしょうか。自分の身の回りにあるものやことなんでもいいです。カメラをお持ちなら数枚でもいいので撮って日常を記録してみると、きっと何かと繋がるはずです。この記事を読んでいただいた方が少しでも写真に興味を持って頂けたら嬉しいです。是非構図だの露出だの角度だのといった難しいことなしにして、一度シンプルに日常を記録していきましょう。
引き続きFrame Tokyoをよろしくお願いします!!
I think that the view what we normally see with eyes and viewfinder or LCD screen on the camera are slightly different and it is very interesting experience. It does not matter what kind of camera you have and it is totally fine if you do not have an expensive camera. I strongly hope that you just record in your life if you have your own camera. When you continue snapping everyday, you will definitely see your hidden desire, goal, concerns...etc and will also be able to know what you want to capture with camera.
It would be great if anyone who is reading this article would be interested in photography as much as possible. By all means, let's simply take photos and record your daily life without any difficult thought and concept, such as composition, exposure, and angle.
I appreciate that you continued support for Frame Tokyo !!
Kyosuke