Words will always Fall Short.

The Photograph is the Missing Piece.

natto1

有著一種,不說出來就不知道照片裡的是什麼,但卻彷彿會猜到。是隔著毛玻璃糊掉的圍欄,那外面是陽台嗎。又或空無一人的一片單純草原,她會拍成像毛茸軟絨,那麼鬆軟泛霧。

There’s a quality of undefined imagination to the photographed subject, where one can nonetheless wager a guess. As though looking through a fogged windowpane, is that a balcony? Or an empty field? Through her lens, the possibility becomes fuzzy – like the morning mist.

natto2

她拍的很多局部,看不見全貌,只想抓住某個瞬間的感覺和印象,或者看不看得清楚、那個是什麼,都照進心裡了,我們或能以共感解讀吧。

你是否偏向喜歡聚焦在微小的事物與感覺上呢?「我拍照的地方常常是我的家,所以遠景不多喔。但對於清晰、帶有說明感的照片,自己不怎麽心動。相比之下,曖昧而抽象、可以感受到拍攝對象細緻微妙之處的,我會更有想像。」即使是每天日常的家,都能慢慢察覺變化。

She tends to photograph the part rather than the whole, as if to grasp a fleeting emotion or impression, unspoken yet still accessible, through empathy.

“You seem to favour minute details and feelings,” “I usually photograph around my house, so there isn’t much for a long shot. I find it hard to relate to clear, illustrative images. Rather, it’s the ambiguous, abstract flirtation with the subject’s details which spurs my imagination,” Vis-à-vis a subject matter as familiar as home, she is still perceptive to the slightest change.

natto3

她是江口,來自東京的24歲女生。偶然發現她的作品是在東京西荻窪的藝廊poubelle。於2014年開業的poubelle,展售店主矢澤先生的蒐集,包括古道具、民藝品、他自己修補的老物器具、珍藏書籍與藝術品等。那麼多不同的物件,卻各自有著舒適的形狀與色塊,如在店裡各自安好,那都是店主在用心選擇。

「我平時愛逛古玩市集,而poubelle是我很喜歡的店,偶爾會去逛逛,看看那些令人心動可愛的東西。」江口因為朋友介紹而認識了矢澤先生,矢澤先生喜歡江口拍的照片,後來在店裡辦了小小攝影展,當時由矢澤先生選物,然後由江口拍成作品。

24-year-old Eguchi came from Tokyo. I came across her work in poubelle gallery in Nishi-Ogikubo, Tokyo. Founded in 2014 by Mr. Yazawa, poubelle showcases antiques, rural crafts, repaired objects, rare books, and artworks. Varied in colour and shape, each has its unique, comfortable place in the shop, collected for a specific purpose.

“I love walking around antique markets and poubelle is one my favourites. I often go there, just to look at those adorable objects,” Eguchi met Mr. Yazawa through a mutual friend. Fascinated by Eguchi’s work, Mr. Yazawa held a small exhibition in his shop to display subjects of his choice, photographed by Eguchi.

natto4

「拍照時我會盡量不移動拍攝對象,我認為他/它們偶然在某處的狀態,正正是魅力所在,所以會小心避免過份刻意。」放棄重新編排的那個瞬間,會變成了觀察者,專心看本來的模樣裡的微妙,這樣發現會更有趣吧。

是在那刻把精神集中,按下快門的直覺,頭腦沒在想什麼的直覺。

“I try not to move my subject when I’m photographing them. For me, their appeal lies in their being suspended in a certain state of being, and I try not to disrupt that,” Giving up arrangement in favour of observation, Eguchi’s work is a case for the joy of serendipity in a close encounter with things as they are.

It’s intuition stemming from heightened focus, the kind which presses the shutter without thinking.

natto7

「我覺得跟相機相處時,人不會自大。直到照片沖曬出來前,那種感覺很有趣,像退後一步去看自己一樣。」那個當下,在拍照與被拍之間像有塊鏡子。

「按快門的時候,會感覺情感如同被切開並挖出來一般,感覺如在那刻分割了出來。翻開照片,當下的情感又會重新回來。」像把感覺冰凍起來,單純地留在了原地。

“Being with my camera is a very humbling experience for my ego. It feels funny to develop the film, as though taking a step back to look at myself,” In that moment, film poses as a mirror between the photographer and the photographed.

“Pressing the shutter is like severing and gouging out an emotion, only for it to return as you flip through the photographs,” It’s like suspending a feeling, etched in the place where it was found.

natto9

最初是怎樣開始攝影的?「因為父親生病了,情況大概是已經知道剩下了多少日子,於是我想在餘下的時光留下一點什麽,所以就開始拍照了。」

「很多時候觸發我去表達什麽的,都是些帶有負面印象的事物,例如自己不喜歡或抗拒的東西。」那如樞紐連起了什麼。

「我想,我拍照是因為想要分享,沒打算透過它傳達訊息。只是,譬如對眼前空間的美,又或對物件所在位置之間的關係的那份感動,假如單單以文字去說明,即使是如此單純的感動,我也會感到和對方在感覺上有偏差,照片就是在填補那一塊。」

“How did you start photography?” “My dad fell ill. It was something like not knowing how many days we had left, so I wanted to keep a record, and that’s when I started photography,”

“Often, what triggers my desire to express is something negative, like something I dislike or resist,” Suddenly, it all makes sense.

“I think ultimately, I photograph because I want to share, not because I want to deliver a message. It’s like… If I were to describe the beauty of what’s before me, or how the interaction between objects touched me, words will always fall short between what I felt then and what my reader feels now. The photograph is the missing piece,”

natto6

想起江口有個興趣是編織。「織東西時,眼前一點一點愈來愈大的模樣像生物一樣,很可愛。還有,由一條線變成立體這個過程很有魅力。」

織東西與攝影間有相似的地方嗎?「我很多時會憑感覺織東西,不會看著織圖做,這個跟攝影很相近。不過其他方面就完全相反。織東西時會知道通向完成的步驟,也可以花時間相處,織錯了又可以修正。但攝影卻是瞬間的事。我覺得它們的不同,也是我享受的地方。」

而那好像都是創造。由它成長。是編織,還是拍下來的感覺在醞釀反芻,也同在引發生命。

Besides photography, Eguchi also loves to knit. “I love watching the yarn grows into something, like an organism. It’s adorable. The process of turning a line into a three-dimensional object is also very mesmerising,”

“Are there similarities between knitting and photography?” “Instead of following step-by-step knitting guides, I usually play it by ear, which is like my photography. But other than that, they are complete opposites. When I’m knitting, I vaguely know the steps towards completion. I can take my time and remedy any mistakes. Photography is fleeting – that’s the difference which I enjoy,”

Whether it’s knitting or photography, it’s an art of creation – of growing, brewing and ruminating – of engendering life.

natto8
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