PROFILE
. Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1985, he published his first photo book "Tsugi no yoru e" in 2013 at his own expense. His major photo collections include "ground", "RAMA LAMA DING DONG", and "Into the Light". . His latest work is "Doors," which was shot during a trip to Europe.
PROFILE
Born in Tokyo in 1973, he produced "sputnik," a beach house on Tsujido Beach in 1999, and in 2004, he established "tripster," a store design company, with a friend. Currently, he is involved in a wide variety of work ranging from writing for magazines to designing stores and other facilities, corporate branding, and radio personalities.
PROFILE
Owner of flotsam books, which specializes in visual books in the fashion, photography, and art genres.Finam BloggerBut there is also.
www.flotsambooks.com/
. Today, we have gathered here to celebrate the publication of your photo book "Doors". Please accept my best regards.
Mountain Valley:Thank you very much.
Nomura:I was wondering if we could talk about photo books today, and also about bookstores.
Mountain Valley:Yes , please do.
Nomura:This (photo book "Doors"), you know, it was thick, heavy, and in the way (laughs).
Mountain Valley:Sorry, it's 400 pages long (laughs).
. First of all, please tell us briefly about your relationship with each other.
Nomura:Let's see, today is the first time for me to meet Mr. Yamatani.
Mountain Valley:No no no. Was this the third time today? (Laughs)
Nomura:But, you know, we first met in the U.S., right?
Mountain Valley:Ah, yes, that's right .
Nomura:We met in New York.
Mountain Valley:Yes, I did. You ate a meal.
Nomura:But before we met, I was swinging a job at "Studio Voice (STUDIOVOICE)". I saw the picture and thought it was interesting, so I approached him.
Mountain Valley:Yes. I have had my work published, had my work photographed, and had an interview with Mr. Kobayashi.
Kobayashi:There was.
Nomura:What was I doing in New York at that time?
Mountain Valley:Isn't it "GRIND"?
Nomura:Ah , then it's time for Michael Avedon (grandson of Richard Avedon) to shoot.
How long ago was that?
Mountain Valley:It was about 5-6 years ago .
What did you see in Mr. Yamatani's work?
Nomura:Not that it's anything, but the kids I worked with in "Studio Voice" put a lot of stuff together and showed me. See, I don't like young kids (laughs).
All:LOL!
Nomura:I have many good friends among old men and elderly people, but when I have to do some work, it is my policy to give it to younger people as much as possible.
Mountain Valley:. After that, I was invited to some events. . And for the past two years, we have been doing photo shoots together. Kunichi-san came to the 5:00 a.m. shoot, didn't he? He was very late (laughs).
Nomura:Well, I thought I'd go see Yamatani's face (laughs). . I like people who are dynamic. Also, someone who doesn't have a lot of backbone.
I don't know how it will turn out, but I'm going to do it.
Nomura:I like people who do things even though they don't know what they are doing, or who do things without listening to others even though they have consulted with them. People who say, "That's right," when asked for their opinion, do not last long. For example, if someone asks you, "I'm thinking of going to Europe, what do you think? and they say, "Well, I don't know right now," and quit. I think it's better to have a girl who says, "Maybe you shouldn't go," but then two weeks later, when you look at her Instagram or something, she says, "I'm going! . I thought it would be better to have a girl like that. Yamatani-kun is like that. He has a different vibe from other photographers his age. For better or worse (laughs).
How old are you now?
Mountain Valley:. 35 years old.
Nomura:It's already that much!
Mountain Valley:When I first met Mr. Nagoshi, who is taking my picture today, he was , I think, about 19 years old.
Nagoshi:That's right. We weren't doing photography yet.
Mountain Valley:. Yes, I was in a band at the time. There was an event sponsored by BEAMS, where several photographers would take pictures of the band on different days.
Nagoshi:One of the band members I invited was Yamatani, who was asked by an acquaintance of the organizer to "bring someone unique. If I were to describe his appearance at that time, he looked like a queen (laughs).
What is the relationship between Ms. Yamatani and Mr. Nagoya?Interview in HOUYHNHNMI was allowed to do so.
By the way, how old are you, Mr. Kobayashi?
Kobayashi:I'm close to Mr. Nagoya, 42 .
I see. Were Kunichi-san and Mr. Kobayashi connected before?
Kobayashi:I have known about it for a long time.
Nomura:This bookstore has been online for a long time . I've bought some stuff from them. And speaking of "floatsam", there is a thrash band called "flotsam and jetsam".
Kobayashi:Ah , I've heard of it.
Nomura:So, I thought it might be a bookstore run by someone who likes "flotsam and jetsam". . That's a very narrow focus. I have not heard of that many bands, but I find myself muttering "Flotsam, Flotsam, Flotsam," like a Buddhist prayer. Flotsam, flotsam, flotsam.
Mountain Valley:. it will remain, won't it?
Do you like hardcore?
Kobayashi:No, not at all. . I don't know much about music at all.
Mountain Valley:. but you had a magazine interview the other day.
Nomura:, You could have just said "flotsam and jetsam". . You could have made up some random episode. When they came to Japan, I got a zine for the first time in my life.
Mountain Valley:That's good . I'd like to answer that appropriately (laughs). Everyone is so serious these days .
Kobayashi:Yes, I know. You're serious.
What do you mean?
Mountain Valley:. there's something about the fact that everyone wants to make a serious book, or at any rate, many of them take their work very seriously.
Nomura:. but isn't that just like a kid making music at home who wants to make a record? . To make an object out of something that is not an object is a big deal.
Mountain Valley:That's right.
Nomura:I wondered why everyone wanted to make records, but then someone said to me, "I think it's great that your sound is solidified," and I thought, "I see.
Mountain Valley:I think that they are looking for a physicality. Going back to the topic at hand, since everyone in this Corona takes it seriously, in that sense, this piece (Doors) has a humorous side to it. I took it very seriously, but it ended up being humorous. But I think it is very important to have a sense of humor. From there, I started asking myself, "What is photography? and travel and many other elements, but I think it is better to have a wide range of viewpoints to get a good grasp of the subject matter. That's what I was thinking about for this photo book.
Nomura:When was this trip?
Mountain Valley:Last September.
Nomura:I don't know, wasn't there something about going on a trip because you wanted to take pictures, or taking pictures because you wanted to go on a trip?
Mountain Valley:Yes, that's right. It's true that I've been in a band all my life ,,
Nomura:Yes, like, I want to go on tour and I have to do something about it. . I wondered which was the goal. . I wanted to go on the road, so I thought that if I did a drum performance and turned it into a show, it would be good.
Mountain Valley:. and raised money through crowdfunding (laughs).
Nomura:Oh, yeah . I thought that feeling was really nice.
Mountain Valley:That may be true. I am a person who had a bad experience in a band, so I have a longing for touring. I thought it would be great to go to various places with all the members. And a European tour? That kind of thing. Yes, I think I was pulled by those phrases. I just realized it now.
Nomura:Photographers who take pictures on the road don't start out on a journalistic trip, and what they capture during their travels doesn't become their work. But gradually, that is no longer the case.
Mountain Valley:Mm-hmm.
Nomura:I wouldn't go abroad if I didn't have a reason to, and I might get a job and go abroad to take pictures while I was there, but I think that going out to play first will no longer be the first thing that comes to mind. When I look back on my backpacking days, it was indeed an unusual journey, and when I told my friends about it in an amusing way, they said, "If you don't have a job, why don't you write a book?" and I was told, "Maybe this is what Kunichi was doing." He also said, "Maybe this is what Kunichi was doing," and handed me a book by Robert Harris. He gave me a book by Robert Harris, saying, "Maybe this is what Kunichi was doing. I felt that if I wrote a book like that, I would probably beautify it, too, and that there was a danger in me. I thought that if I turned it into money, it would tarnish the memories of all the hard work I had put in, so I didn't do it.
