I met a friend yesterday in Yokohama, we talked and drank for a while. In the course of our conversation he said something like this: “I really like American photography, it feels so fresh. To me, things in Japan are stale, everyone is doing the same thing here.” I said “really? It seems to me like so many photographers in America, especially graduate students, have these really ponderous artist statements, which doesn’t interest me at all. I feel like Japanese photography is something new.”

And so on. Of course there’s something obvious here (we both know our own cultures pretty well, so we’re interested in something different) but it’s the first time I’ve heard someone here really say that they were bored with things. We went on to talk about the idea of being “famous” as a photographer: if Eggleston or Friedlander walk down the street, do amateur photographers recognize them? Moriyama and Araki would get recognized. Then the over-polite service of the chain restaurant we were at prompted us to talk about how in Japan, photography is a way for radical individual expression. Of course there are some photographers who take a restrictive approach to their work, but the big names here (Moriyama and Araki) take a very open approach to allowing photography into their lives.

This conversation made me think of things a little bit differently, like it’s just as helpful to introduce foreign artists here as it is to introduce Japanese artists abroad.

昨日は横浜で写真関係の友達と会った。彼と、アメリカと日本の違いについて話した。彼が「アメリカやヨーロッパの写真の方が日本より新鮮」と。僕はちょっとびっくりしました。なんか、なんで日本の写真は新鮮じゃない？？「アメリカには、写真家、特に大学院生はよく重過ぎるアーティストステートメントを書く。それがも面白くない僕にとって日本の方が新鮮！」と。

今考えたら、それはもちろんですね！自分の国の文化はもよく見るから、ちょっと飽きる。これからは、日本の写真家を海外に紹介するだけじゃなくて、もちょっと海外のひとを日本に紹介するかな？と思った。その後は、「有名な写真家」のはなしだった。例えば、アメリカにはアマチュアーカメラマンは全くエッグルストンとかフリードランだーの顔わからない。日本にそのアマチュアーカメラマンは荒木や森山のかお分かるでしょう？

日本語はいつもすみません！このテキストは酷い、それはよくわかる。でも最近はまた漢字を勉強してるから、練習ためにちょっと使ってみたい。