下の英文は、僕の写真集「静かな生活」後書きを英訳してもらったものです。
しかも２回！、下のは２回目！
とはいえ、僕がその英文を理解しているわけでもなく
とりあえず眼は通したのですが
この二回目の英文、相当に「文学的」に感じております。
と言いますのは、
まず最初にお願いしたM女史（ネイティヴな日本人）
彼女は、電気製品の取り説などを英訳する仕事をしているのですが
一回目の翻訳を見たダンナ様＝D氏（ネイティヴなアメリカ人）
もっと「文学的」にするべきだと
ご夫婦協力して、やり直してくれたのです。
なるほど、Dさんは僕か？と思うほど
「書いてる、書いてる」
僕の頭にストレートなのは、M女史の第一稿ですが
英語はせいぜい「お買い物英語」が精一杯のネイティヴな日本人=僕なので
英語人がどう感じるかは未知。
この翻訳、お願いした訳は
ネイティヴなアメリカ人の友人＝Judyに
http://www.misskittysings.com/index.html
写真をよりよく見てもらおうと思ったことのみが目的、
ですから、多分第二稿の方がよいのだと思います。
実は、一度アップしたのですがアップするのだったらもう一度推敲のあと、、、と削除一週間ほど、遅れてしまったのでした。
********************************以下第二稿Quiet Days ~ La vie Tranquille was the beginning.This is the title of the blog I started in 2007 and still post to today.The name Quiet Days has two meanings for me, the quiet days of our golden years,which we may not have much choice over, and the quiet days that we take for ourselvesin advance, before we are old. Call it wisdom, call it settling down, call it what you like.The name also holds for me the sense of opposites. Uncertainty and fear of getting oldthat is mixed with a balance and anticipation of the magical years that lie ahead.In a way I am overwhelmed by the feelings this title evokes in me, especially at this timein my life.In mid August of 2008, I had had a photo exhibit of the same name, ʻQuiet Daysʼ. It wasmy first solo exhibition with digital images. (In 2005 I had a show, Photo with Love, thatshowcased digital images that was a collaborative exhibit with other artists.) I decided tomake this show a “house exhibition”. I invited guests into my studio, to a viewing partythat allowed me to relax and really interact with people coming to see my work. Theshow was comprised of photos taken over the past two years of my daily life. In a way,day-to-day photos are my lifeʼs work. I have held many such exhibitions, periodicalinstallments to the growing body of work that symbolizes my Quiet Days. These showssit in contrast to my travelog photo exhibitions which may be said to be born ofextraordinary days.When I began preparing for Quiet Days ~ La vie Tranquille (the house exhibition) Iquickly realized that I had enough room to display more photos than I suspected. Sincemany of the people coming to the show were friends made recently, in the past fewyears, I felt it would be interesting to give a nod to some of my earlier work. I carefullychose pieces from my 90ʼs exhibitions and Quiet Days ~ La vie Tranquille took on theduality of being a show of new work and retrospective, tying the past to the present.A coalition of photos from my past and present was exactly what I was looking for!And now this photo book:When I first began the retrospective layout of my new book, I felt I should focus on thephotos I took from summer to autumn in 2000 (showcased in my show Wild la Manchaand pure Paris) And my 1994 photos that appeared in the 1996 show Infrared Tourist inHawaii. But once I started to organize the photos I discovered that there was so muchmore I wanted share. The old favorites of mine and my friends just didnʼt appeal to meas much as they used to. I found myself dropping photos that people were sure toadmire and replacing them with images that might evoke feelings like ʻWhat does thismean to me now?ʼ I was amazed by how much my minds eye had tempered over time.This book stands as, perhaps a retrospective of my work , but I labeled it as a “Best Of”collection based on my current appreciation of the Quiet Days of my past.A brief and chronological background to the photos in this book.As would seem fitting, the last two photos (including the back cover) are from highschool years. They are of legs, and in a way represent my first steps this field. It is alsomy entry into the world of professional photography; the back cover photo is a reprint ofthe very first image sold, on the street at Shinjuku, West Gate Park. Several of thephotos found in the second half of the book are from my late teens in Tokyo. Not inschool and unemployed, I spent all my time just shooting in the city. I chose thesephotos from old photo files containing 30 or so images. Named, with great sincerity atthat time, “Why I am so Lonely”, “Lonely Autumn” or something similar. In addition tothat, I chose two photos, from the same era, taken on Okinoerabu Island.I think it was 1986 when I took my Hasselblad to Spain. I had yearned for Spain since Iwas a teenager and I had to include a few photos from my exhibition called Shadow ofSpain: Light and Days Gone By.In 1994, inspired by Chech national icon photographer Jozef Siudek, I began shootingwith a rotating panoramic camera. Some of the images I took in the Nagoya area werepicked up by the Nagoya Bureau of Tourism and featured on postcards. That summer,as fate would have it, I unexpectedly found myself in Hawaii with a tour group, and mynew rotating panoramic camera came was with me. I was shooting infrared film whichcatches a plantʼs chlorophyl in shiny white. Itʼs as if you are witnessing the plants powerappear before your eyes on the paper. Each image told a story self evident andcomplete. I was automatic writing. The photos I took in Hawaii that summer changed myfeelings that a photo should illustrate the photographerʼs conceptions. Rather it shouldcapture the story of the moment, Automatic Writing. Two years later the photos from mytrip to Hawaii were featured n my exhibition Infrared Tourist in Hawaii and about 10images were published in the magazine Asahi Camera.The fall of 94 found me in Sri Lanka to read Leaves of Agasthiya, which was quite thesensation back then. I couldnʼt help adding a few images from that trip as well. In fact,the whole second half of that year is documented, in a fashion, that is nothing more orless than a diary. At the end of 94 this, then, middle aged man fell in love. Every minuteof everyday I carried my camera, trying to capture the fleeting moments of an incredibleyear. (The photos pictured here are from Diary held in 1997 and were shown the theTokyo Photography Month at the Aoyama Fine Arts Gallery)In May of 2000, on his way to shoot wind mills in La Mancha, “Don Quixote” Nambu fellin love again......this time with Paris. I was my first visit to the city of lights. The four dayrendezvous with Paris as well as the aide-memoire of light in La Mancha were featuredin my Art Collection Nakano show Wild La Mancha and Pure Paris.All the photos pictured here were created with silver halide film, but I must confess that Ihave digitally recaptured older photos in a double-tone-data process that could becandidly called a digital-remix. There are just some things you canʼt do with silver halidefilm.Finally I have thrown in some digital color images from 2006-2008. These are day-todayphotos, many taken with a compact camera (with a little color saturation added justprior to this book going to the publisher). These photos are from the show Quiet Days ~La vie Tranquille which is also this books title. Perhaps these could be a peak into whatlies ahead on my path.I would like to show my gratitude to the people who have helped me with this book.Ryu san from Fubaisha for his insightfulness and for green lighting this project.Tabata kun invaluable suggestions and design contributions.Miyuki Mizutani who helped me with the postface when I couldnʼt start writing.And my heart felt gratitude to my wife, Yukari, who supported me behind the scenes inmost every aspect of this book. Who, by the way, has three photos of her own in thisbook for you to find.
