About A Family Photographer or the Family-themed Photographer
What is the definition of "A Family Photographer" or "the Family-themed Photographer" ?
(Japanese is below)
Since I started my own business in 2012 calling myself a "family photographer," I don't know if it was influenced by the media coverage, but all sorts of people have started calling themselves this title. There is nothing wrong with that in itself.
By the way, I think that an automobile photographer or a wildlife photographer is an expert in their respective fields of expertise and someone who conveys information about their subjects through photographs based on their knowledge and background as such an expert.
There is an automobile photographer named Yoshifumi Ogawa, who has been taking world-class advertising photos for many years as the official photographer for Porsche since the 1980s, and has also published many photos that bring out the best of cars in Japan in automobile magazines such as "NAVI" and "ENGINE".
He says he became a photographer to take pictures of cars. He has driven dozens of cars in his quest to take the best automotive photographs, and he is well versed in the backgrounds and design philosophies of brands, which he captures in the best locations and in the best photographs.
He also says that to call himself an automotive photographer, he must be an expert on automobiles.
Do those who call themselves "family photographers" really have the determination to be experts of family? I, of course, have. It is an incredibly difficult and formidable subject, but I decided to call myself one because I thought it was worth the risk of my life.
To begin with, there was actually someone who called himself a "family photographer" before me. I contacted that person in advance and asked for permission to call myself a family photographer. He immediately said, "Yes, off course".
Furthermore, he later stopped calling himself a "family photographer. In this sense, I feel a great responsibility.
To avoid any misunderstanding, I would like to add that this case is not about Mr. Masashi Asada. I have been paying attention to Mr. Asada for a long time and respect his work, and in Japan, ever since he won the Ihei Kimura Photography Award, he has long been known as "Masashi Asada when it comes to family portraits. Although I have met Mr. Asada in person, I am certain that he has never called himself a "family photographer" or "the family-themed photographer".
「家族写真家」の定義とは？
私が2012年に「家族写真家」と名乗って独立して以来、マスコミで取り上げられた影響があったかどうかは知らないが、いろんな人がこの肩書きを名乗るようになった。それ自体は何の問題もない。
ところで自動車写真家、動物写真家といえば各専門分野のエキスパートであり、そうした専門家としての知識や背景を踏まえて、被写体について写真で伝える人のことを指すのだろうと思う。
小川義文氏という自動車写真家がいる。1980年代からポルシェのオフィシャルフォトグラファーとして長年、世界レベルの広告写真を撮っていて、国内でも『NAVI』や『ENGINE』等の自動車雑誌でクルマの魅力を最大限に引き出した写真を数多く発表されてきた。
同氏はクルマを撮るためにフォトグラファーになったという。最高の自動車写真を撮るために何十台ものクルマを乗り継ぎ、ブランドの背景や設計思想などを熟知し、それらを最高のロケーションで最高の一枚として写真におさめる。
さらに小川氏は、自動車写真家と名乗るからには自動車の専門家でなければならない、とも述べている。
果たして「家族写真家」を名乗る方々に、家族の専門家としての覚悟はあるのだろうか？ 私にはもちろん、ある。途轍もなく難解で手強いテーマだが、人生を賭する価値があると思い、名乗ることを決めた。
そもそも、実は、私より先に「家族写真家」を名乗っておられる方はいた。私は予めその方に連絡をとり、自ら名乗ることのお断りを入れた。すぐに「どうぞ名乗ってください」との連絡を頂いた。
さらにはその後、その方は「家族写真家」と名乗ることを止めておられた。私は、そういった意味でも大きな責任を感じる。
（なお誤解のないように補足しておくと、この件は浅田政志氏のことではない。浅田氏は私も長らく注目し、作品もリスペクトしているし、日本では木村伊兵衛写真賞の受賞以来、長らく「家族写真といえば浅田政志」という認知度がある。ご本人とは実際の面識もあるが、同氏が自ら『家族写真家』と名乗っていたことはないはずである）
written by Hamano Jousuke
