Chapter２：はじまりのポートレート1994年
- MAL
- 6月25日
- 読了時間: 2分
パリの路上で撮影した一枚のポートレート。
ずっと気になっていたその男性は、いつも同じ場所、いつも車椅子の上で弱々しく項垂れ、顔を見ることもできない状態でした。
しかし、写真を撮らせてくださいと声をかけると、
「もちろんだよ」
そう言って、この写真そのままの佇まいを見せてくれました。
撮影後に彼からかけられた
「俺はここから応援している。絶対有名になれよ。」
という言葉と、「もちろんだよ」と答えながら突然空気が変わったあの瞬間は今も忘れられず、彼に対する尊敬と感謝の気持ちはずっと持ち続けています。
少し演出された心の外在化のために撮っていた作風は、パリで発表することにより一段落していましたが、その次のステージになるであろうこの作品の続きの撮影は、それから20年も後になるとは想像すらできませんでした。
演出がなく、正面から一対一で被写体と向き合った「はじまりのポートレート」は、被写体の存在そのものの描写を優先しようと意識しながらも、当時まだ未熟だった私が、被写体を通して自分と向き合うことの必要性を知るきっかけになった作品でもあります。
Chapter 2: The Beginning of Portraiture
1994
A portrait taken on the streets of Paris.
For a long time, I had noticed this man.
He was always in the same place, sitting in his wheelchair, his head bowed. He looked frail, and I could never even see his face.
One day, I gathered the courage to ask if I could take his portrait.
“Of course,” he replied.
In that instant, everything changed.
The man who had seemed so small and withdrawn suddenly revealed the presence you see in this photograph.
After the portrait was taken, he said something I have never forgotten:
“I’ll be cheering for you from here. You’re going to become famous someday.”
More than thirty years have passed, yet those words remain with me.
I still carry a deep sense of respect and gratitude for him.
At that time, my photography had largely been about externalizing my inner world through carefully constructed images. Presenting that work in Paris felt like the completion of one chapter.
What I could not have imagined was that it would take another twenty years before I began creating the body of work that this portrait was pointing toward.
This was the beginning of my portraiture.
A portrait without staging.
A direct encounter between two people.
Although I was already trying to focus on the existence of the person in front of me, I was still inexperienced.
Only later did I realize that truly facing another person also requires facing oneself.
This photograph became the first step on that journey.
I know that you are here.
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