その後の少年の人生を変えた。
巨匠・中平卓馬と高校生との、
利害を超えた純粋な交流が、
新たな“写真”を生み出す……。
Encountering with a legendary photographer changed the boy’s life.
The pure exchange between Takuma Nakahira, a master photographer,
and a high school student transcends interests to create a new photograph.
Takuma Nakahira
中平卓馬
関川徳之◎写真・文
「写真は芸術であることをやめ、（一部省略）内なる表現であることをやめて、記録に徹する時、何ものかでありうる」という言葉を聞いた瞬間、身体中に鳥肌が立ち、17歳の私が抱いた写真や写真機へのイメージが音を立てて崩れ、その言葉の力強さに衝撃を受け、写真のことが頭から離れない日々が始まりました。
僕が中平さんと出会ったのは2007年でした。学校の帰りに横浜駅でいつも通らない道を通ると、SHORT HOPEの赤いメッシュキャップに上下ジーンズの中平さんが前を歩いていました。しばらく後を着いて行き、声をかけ「中平さん、ファンです」と手を差し出すとゆっくり顔をあげ、じっと僕の顔を見ながら握手をしてくれました。そしてまた行ってしまいました。家に帰ると、写真を始めたばかりの頃に兄から見せてもらったホンマタカシさんの『きわめてよいふうけい』を見ていると自分の家から住まいが近いことがわかったので、また会えればいいなと思っていました。
それから一年後の2008年に山下公園の近くでスケートボードをしていると撮影中の中平さんに遭遇。その日はお姉さんのミドリさんが一緒で「私はもうついていけないから」と、明日から来るように頼まれ、そこから暫くの間、時間を過ごすことになりました。それは当時、高校を卒業し、独学で写真を撮っていた僕にとっては刺激的な日々でした。当時の中平さんは通常の会話は難しい様子でしたが、不意に出る言葉からは記憶と言葉の多くを失った人とは思えない様な瞬間がありました。
初めて家に行くと「お帰り！ よく来たな！」とハグをしてくれました。僕が撮影に同行していた時は中平さんが食事を終えて、黒電話で時報を聞きながら腕時計を合わし、タバコとカメラと赤ペンを持って、歩きで撮影に行っていました。基本的には中平さんが撮影に集中できる様にサポートをしながら、食事やフィルムの交換などの手伝い、適度な時間に家まで送り届けるというものでした。特に技術的なことや写真論を聞いたりなどの会話はできない状態でしたので、撮影をされるまでの行動、凝視、シャッターを切るまでに至るまでの流れなどを見ながら中平さんを観察、勝手な解釈をしながら撮影をしました。
ごく稀にでしたが、太陽に照らされた樹木の葉を撮影したあと僕に「これだよ、これ！ 撮った方がいい！」など。DyDoの自販機を撮れば「あれは森山だ、知ってるか？」など照明の文字が入った石碑を撮ると「東松照明……」とボソッと呟いたり。忘れた何かを思い出し、考える様な顔をよくしていました。空を飛ぶカラスなどを見て「あれは神様だよ」、鬼ころしの広告を指差し「鬼なんかいないよ、笑っちゃうなぁ」など、中平さんの大好きな「すき家」で食事中には、店で流れる倖田來未の歌詞を聞いて「ふざけた歌詞だ。意味がわからない」など、思わず笑ってしまう様な事も多々ありました。
沖縄へ撮影に行った時、「コバルト荘」という必ず泊まる宿で、夜に本を読んでいた中平さんは早く寝る様に促されるとそれを嫌い、撮影に行くと聞かなくなり一緒に撮影へ行きました。夜の那覇を駆け回る中平さんを今でもよく思い出します。体は細く華奢ではありますが、力強くスピードもあります。信号が青になると勢いよく走り出したり、階段の上り下りは２〜４段飛ばしは当たり前で、CANONのF1に望遠レンズを装着したカメラをガンガンぶつけながらひたすら前に進みます。付き添いの僕が「中平さん帰りましょう」と言わなければ、力尽きるまで歩き続けます。雨が降ろうが風が吹こうがお構いなし、横浜から一人で家を出て10日間近く歩き続け、遠く離れた公園で倒れていたこともあったそうです。自分の好きな被写体を見つけると、凝視しながら近づきファインダーを覗き、また更に近づいたり、角度を変えたりと、足場が悪い場所でも危険を顧みずアングルを探し出します。その流れの中で何かが途切れたり、相手が動いてしまったりすると撮らないこともありました。シャッターを切るときには体を弾ませながら右手を後ろにパッと振り、踊るような動きのときもありました。
中平さんとの旅で感化され、地元横浜を出てスケーター達と旅をしながら写真を撮る様になり日本各地で撮影をしました。行き詰まった時には中平さんのことを思い出し、歩きながら写真を撮ることで、バランスを保てるような気がしています。決して直接何かを言われたり教えてもらってはいないが、スケートボードの写真を撮っていくうえでも貴重な体験でした。
中平卓馬は、1960年代後半から1970年代初頭にかけて日本の写真界に大きな影響を与えた写真家。思想家で評論家の多木浩二とともに発案、詩人の岡田隆彦、写真家・高梨豊とともに創刊した『provoke』は、写真のみならずアート、文学など多方面のクリエイターに革新的な刺激を与えた。わずか3号で休刊となってしまったが、今も中平の業績として高く評価されている
せきかわ・のりゆき
写真家。十代の頃より変わらずスケートボードとカメラに没頭した生活を続けている。2016年、盟友・荒川晋作と両人の姓に共通した1文字をとりプロジェクトチーム「川」をスタート。2020年からはおよそ半年に一冊のペースでオークラ出版より本をリリースし続けている。2023年3月には「川」5号目「野生」を出版
Instagram：@noriyukisekikawa
Takuma Nakahira
TAKUMA NAKAHIRA
Noriyuki Sekikawa : Photos and Text
"Photography can be something when it ceases to be art when it ceases to be an expression within (some parts omitted) and devote your entire attention to take a record." The moment I heard the words, goosebumps broke out all over my body, and the image I had of photography and photographic equipment as a 17-year-old boy collapsed with a bang. The power of those words shocked me so much that I could not get the thought of photography out of my mind.
It was 2007 when I encountered Mr. Nakahira. On my way home from school, I took a street I usually don't near Yokohama Station, and I saw Mr. Nakahira walking in front of me wearing a red mesh cap marked SHORT HOPE and a blue jean jacket and pants. I followed him for a while, called out his name, and said, "Mr. Nakahira, I'm your fan," and offered him my hand. He lifted his head, slowly shook hands, seeing my face, and left. When I returned home, I looked at Takashi Homma's "Kiwamete Yoi-Fu-Kei," which my brother had shown me when I started photography. I found out that he lived close to my house. I just hoped I would be able to see him again.
A year later, in 2008, I was skateboarding near Yamashita Park when I ran into Mr. Nakahira, who was filming. His sister Midori was with him that day and asked me to be back the next day. She said, "I can't be his company anymore." Since then, we spent some time together for a while. Those were the exciting days for me, a high school graduate and self-taught photographer. Mr. Nakahira seemed to have some difficulty with usual conversation. There were moments when he spoke unexpectedly, and it was hard to believe that he was a person who had lost much of his memory and language.
The first time I visited his house, he said, "Welcome home! Welcome!" and hugged me.
When I was accompanying Mr. Nakahira on a shoot, he had a routine. He would finish his meal, listen to the time signal on his old-style black dial phone, set his watch, and walk to the shoot with a cigarette, camera, and a red pen. Basically, I would support Mr. Nakahira so that he could concentrate on shooting, help him eat and change film, and take him home at a reasonable hour. It seemed difficult for him to tell me about technical matters or his theory of photography, so I observed Mr. Nakahira as I watched his actions, his way of staring at the objects, and the process leading up to his being photographed and releasing the shutter. I took the liberty of interpreting Mr. Nakahira's photography style and used it as a model for my photography.
It was very unusual, but after photographing the leaves of trees in the sun, Nakahira sometimes gave me instructions such as, "You should take a picture of this! When he took a picture of a DyDo vending machine, he said, "That is Mr. Moriyama, you know?” Or when he took a picture of a stone monument with the word lighting on it, he muttered something like, "Higashimatsu Shomei: ......." He often looked as if he was thinking about something he had forgotten. When he saw a crow flying in the sky, he said, "That's a god." He pointed to an advertisement of Oni-koroshi and said, "There is no ogre. It's so funny.” When he listened to Kumi Koda's song at his favorite restaurant SUKIYA, he said, "Those lyrics are a joke. I don't know what they mean." He often made me laugh.
When we went to Okinawa for filming, we always stayed at the Inn, whose name was Cobalt. Mr. Nakahira, who was reading a book at night, hated to be forced to go to bed. He wanted to go to the shoot and wouldn't listen to me, so I had no choice but to go with him. I still often recall Mr. Nakahira running around Naha at night. When the light turned green, he dushed. It was ordinary for him to skip 2 to 4 steps going up and down stairs. He kept moving forward, bumping his camera with a telephoto lens attached to a CANON F1. Unless I said, "Let's go home, Mr. Nakahira," he would keep walking until he ran out of energy. He didn't care if it rained or blew. He left home alone from Yokohama, walked for nearly ten days, and even collapsed in a park far from his house! When he found a subject he liked, he would stare at it, get closer, look through the viewfinder, get even closer, change angles, and find the right angle, even on bad terrain, without regard for the risks involved. Sometimes, he did not take a picture of the subject if there was a break in the flow or the person moved. When releasing the shutter, he bounced his body and flashed his right hand behind his back, sometimes in a dance-like motion.
Inspired by my travels with Mr. Nakahira, I left my hometown of Yokohama and began taking photos while traveling with skaters and shooting all over Japan. Whenever I get stuck, I remember Mr. Nakahira, and I feel like I can keep my balance by taking pictures while walking.
Although he never directly told me anything or taught me anything, it was a valuable experience for me in skateboarding photography.
Takuma Nakahira was a photographer who greatly influenced Japanese photography in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a thinker. He conceived provoke with critic Koji Taki. He launched it with poet Takahiko Okada and photographer Yutaka Takanashi. Provoke provided innovative inspiration to creators in many fields, not only photography but also art and literature. Although the magazine ceased publication after only three issues, it is still highly regarded as Nakahira's achievement.
Profile: Noriyuki Sekikawa
Photographer. Since his teenage years, he has continued to live a life devoted to skateboarding and his camera. In 2016, he and his ally Shinsaku Arakawa started the project team KAWA(River) by taking one character common to both their last name. Since 2020, he has been releasing a book every six months from Okura Publishing. In March 2023, he published the fifth issue of KAWA(River), YASEI(Wild).
Instagram：@noriyukisekikawa
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