写真家Mark Wallis氏

—写真写りは良い方ですか？

—Not really, mainly because I pull stupid faces when I find myself on the wrong side of the camera.

—どうして写真撮影業界に入ったのですか？

—The old story of the couple with no money, an old uni friend with a decent camera and a firm agreement that there’d be no posed photos.

—良い写真を撮影するにあたって最も重要な要素とは何であるか、ご意見をお聞かせいただけますでしょうか？

—For me it’s all about the genuine moment, captured without any intervention by the photographer. A moment that would have happened even if the photographer wasn’t there. A moment of action, emotion, great light, etc.

—旅行が好きですか？

—I do, but in comfort. I’m more of a city person than a wilderness person.

—あなたの職業について一番好きなことは何ですか？

—Working for myself and (kinda) gatecrashing parties.

—あなたの職業について一番嫌いなことは何ですか？

—The assumption by some that I’m at the wedding to take control of everything and to take boring, posed photos of the guests.

—未来の写真撮影とはどのようなものでしょうか？

—Not sure I even know what the ‘present’ of wedding photography is. I just do what I do and hope enough people each year want that.

—批判に対処するには？

—Depends who it’s coming from and how constructive it is.

—写真撮影でトレンドはありますか？

—Always somebody doing something that everybody else copies until something else comes along. Trends get old quickly (see ‘couple in rain with flashgun’, etc.)

—写真家選択の際に、お客様が基準とすべきことは何ですか？

—Approach is key for me. They either want to just get on and enjoy their wedding and have a record of it, or they want to spend the day modelling for pieces of art or fashion photography (or somewhere in between). A connection with the photographer’s portfolio, and a desire to see themselves in those images, is a good guide.

—写真家が気づくことができる普段は見過ごさせる細かい点は何ですか？

—I don’t think there is anything specific. A good wedding photographer will have an eye for a moment or an interesting composition or great light that most won’t have, but the key thing is that when you’re employed to shoot a wedding you approach it from a different angle to a friend or family member who is there to enjoy the wedding. I am paid to be observant. Plus, I see what the common people are doing. I’m there to photograph everybody, not just the couple.

—どのような人物が 21世紀を象徴する人物になり得るとお考えでしょうか？

—For me, whoever does the most to increase education and encourage the use of reason and logic in decision-making from the top to the bottom of social and political hierarchy.

—どんな人を撮影したいですか？

—Anybody that trusts me completely and who will ignore me.

—プロとしてタブーとしている事はありますか？

—I won’t work for people or companies that I perceive to be helping to make the world a worse place.

—誰と一緒に写真を撮りたいですか？

—Nobody. I like working alone.

—心配事はありますか。またその理由は何でしょうか？

—Time and money and my misguided perception that I have a shortage of both.

—人生において最も印象的な瞬間とは何でしょうか？

—Completing this interview.

—もしあなたがアニメ化されるとしたら、文学または映画の登場人物のどちらになりたいですか。またそれは何故ですか？

—Butthead from Beavis & Butthead, because he.. he… he. You said would. He.. he…

—あなたの人生においてインスピレーションの元となるのはどんな人ですか？また、それは何故ですか？

—I’m not good at absorbing or recognising inspiration.

—好かれたり、尊敬されたりするほうですか？

—Depends who is doing the liking and respecting.

—これまで仕事上で犯した最大のミスは何ですか？

—Running up the stairs of Marylebone Town Hall with a zoom lens precariously perched in a jacket pocket didn’t end well.

—旅行に出かける際には何を持っていきますか。また、それは何故ですか？

—Clothes, money, phone, a camera of some sort.

—所有しているガジェットの中で買わなければ良かったと思っているものはありますか？また、それは何故でしょうか？

—A Panasonic GF1 that I barely used and that my wife dropped and damaged after I’d had it for a couple of weeks. I don’t get on with cameras without viewfinders.

—より良い写真を撮るために、どのように腕を磨いていますか？

—Take more pictures.

—写真家として、誰の作品に一番影響を受けましたか？

—Nobody specific, but seeing in 2004/2005 that a documentary approach was a viable option for wedding photography was the push I needed to start doing it myself.

—自分の写真に対して何かコメントはありますか？

—The truth.

—写真撮影を続けさせる動機は何でしょうか？

—People keep paying me to come to their weddings.

—ご両親は多かれ少なかれ、厳しい方だったのではないですか？

—My mum got it pretty much spot on.

—過去に戻ることができるとしたら、違ったようにやりたいことはありますか？

—I would make better use of my enquiring mind and study science or engineering, so that I could be of more use to the world and future generations.

—他の惑星にいる生命体はどうでしょう？

—Presumably, but we’ll wipe out life on our own planet before we make contact with life on others.

—あなたのヒーローは誰ですか？

—I don’t really have any. They’d only ruin it at some point.

—あなたが敬意を払わない人はどんな人ですか？

—Those who promote fear, intolerance and lies to feed their own greed.

—オフは何をしていますか？

—I do DIY, or I play my ukulele, or I go to (mostly metal) gigs or I do a crossword.

—人前では絶対に見せない、あなたのもう一つの側面とは何でしょうか？

—Most of my sides. I’m a fairly private person.

—自分の作品に十分に満足するのはどんな時ですか？

—Dunno, it hasn’t happened yet.

—男性と女性の伝統的な役割の正当性を信じていますか？

—Like most traditions, best left in the past. Live and let live.

—簡単に友達になることができますか？

—I really don’t. I’m friendly and approachable and I get on with most people, but I’ve been burnt too many times so I keep most people at a few arms’ length.

—どこに住みたいですか？

—In a huge warehouse apartment in NYC, or in a cosy old manor house surrounded by a few acres, or on top of a hill in Scotland.

—結婚後に人生は存在すると思いますか？

—It’s just a certificate and a great party. As you were.

—お気に入りのジョークはありますか？教えていただけますか。

—“Some people like cats and some people don't. Apparently the Pope's a cataholic.” Milton Jones

—犬や猫が好きですか？

—I prefer cats to dogs, but I don’t like the damage they do to your house, so am currently resisting my family’s desire to own one.

—嫌いな人物や物はありますか？

—Overuse of hate.

—人生における最高のこと：

—Freedom. And Five Guy’s Bacon Cheeseburger, All The Way.

—人生で最も厄介なこと：

—Procrastination. And people constantly changing speed on the motorway when I’m using cruise control.

—自分を変えたいと思っていますか？

—I’d like to have more self-belief.

—この世界の何を変えたいと思いますか？

—I’d like to ensure everyone gets a quality education and eradicate dependence on myth, legend and violence.

—新米の写真家にコツを教えていただけますか？

—Take your own (decent) food, and wear comfortable shoes.

—もし宇宙人が地球にやってきて、あなたが最初にその宇宙人に出会うのだとしたら何を話しますか？

—That I want a ride in their spaceship.

—もし映画の撮影を依頼されたら、どのようなジャンルを撮影しますか？

—A very dark and gory horror film.

—明日、これをしにいくつもりです...

—…something less boring instead.