Dec
15
2003

PLACES　-　Wim Wendersのインタビュー

Wim Wendersといえば映画を思い浮かべる人も多いかもしれないが、私にとって彼は「写真家」であり、学生時代に影響を与えた人物。その頃の私は、70年代アメリカで生まれたニューカラーと呼ばれる写真が結構好きで、Lee Friedlander、William Egglestonなんかの写真集も穴が開くほどよく見ていた。

Wim Wendersのインタビューで彼が「土地・場所」に対する思い入れ語っているのだが、かなりぐっときたのでここに記しておこうと思う。

I travel a lot.
Sometimes I even think that’s my real profession: Traveler.
I often come to places I have never been before.
Or to places I haven’t seen in a long time.
I walk around.
I see cities， streets， houses.
I see people go to work.
I see kids play.
I look at an apartment building，
I see the lit windows， shadows moving behind it，
maybe a woman leaning out and calling a kid’s name.
Maybe there’ll even be an answer from somewhere.
“I’m coming…”

I can’t help this feeling， immediately，
that I want to know everything about this place.
How it is to live there， how the seasons go by.
How these people spend their lives.
How they have fun. What they worry about.
How they eat， drink， sleep， work…

Or I come to a place where nobody lives， let’s say a desert.
I imagine the nomads roaming around there.
Or the hunters who come by occasionally.
Or the first human being who ever passed and laid eyes on these mountains，
this lake， this high plateau… whatever.
Who made the first map…
You see， places have this irresistible attraction for me.
They’re a never ending source of inspiration， of stories…
………………………………………………
Places where we spend our lives.
Places that we visit for just one moment.
Places we discover by chance.
Places that attract us by their name on a map alone.
Places we will never see again.
Places we can never forget.

Places we long to come back to.
Places that scare us.
Places that comfort us.
Places that make us feel at home.
Places we find repulsive.
Places that fill us with awe.

Places we dreamed about
before we ever got there.
Places we got lost in
and places that we lost.

Places condition us.
Places protect us.
Places destroy us………..