千里の道も一歩から・The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step

最近、寒いし、学校が休んでいるので、自転車に乗っていない。でも、昨日、カメラを持っていって、オリンピアの町中へ自転車に乗って、人の写真を撮りに行こうと思った。クリスマスだったので、人はあまりいなかったけど、踊っていた女性を５人見かけて、写真を撮りに行きたかった。

けど、僕にとって、そんなことはそんなに簡単にすることができない。いい写真を撮りたかったら、被写体（５人の女性とか）に近づかないといけない。近づいて、写真を撮りに見えたら、その人はどう反応なのか分からないでしょう？僕にとって、そんなことすごく怖い。なんで怖いのか分からない。僕は「写真を撮ってもいいですか？」と聞けるだろう。でも、ポーズなしの写真も撮りたいので、できたら、聞きたくないで撮りたい。

最近、このブログの投稿を見て、「こういう写真を撮りたい！」と思った。マレーシア人の写真家は東京に写真を撮りに行った。彼の写真はかっこいいでしょう？もちろん、自転車に乗っている人の写真は一番いいけど、最初の写真と「Happy People. Shinjuku」と「Rainy Streets in Akihabara」と「Connecting Tunnels. Ebisu」という写真も好き。

そういう写真を撮るために、いろいろな練習が必要だ。全く知らない人に近づいて写真を撮って、その人と話しかける技能を磨いたら、他の状況でもその技能を使えるようになると思う。知らない英語の先生に会いに行って、会話をしたり、取引先を作るために知らない人と話しかけたりするようになると思う。だから、この練習は撮影だけじゃなくて、いろいろなことに関連付けたことだ。

あ、そうだ、その５人の女性の話。僕はちょっと考えて、彼らはそんなに怖くないと思った。だって、公開に踊ったら、他の人に見られるでしょう。写真を撮るのはそんなに変じゃないので、「彼らは大丈夫だ」と思って、近づいた。そのとき、１人の女性は「ね、写真を撮ってくれませんか？」と聞いて、僕にカメラを渡した。彼女のカメラでちょっと写真を撮って、「僕のカメラでも写真を撮ってもいいですか？」と聞いて、撮った。

思ったよりうまく行ったけど、後に他のところに行って、人を見かけたけど、近づいて写真を撮る勇気は出てこなかった。(>_<)（まあ、上のスマホを使っている人の写真を撮れたけどね。）「ダメだ、僕の弱さを超えられなかった」と思ったけど、よく考えたら、それらの女性たちの写真を撮ったので、昨日の練習はうまく行ったと思う。弱さを一気に超えるもんじゃないだろう。僕は一歩ずつ進んでゆこう。

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Since it's been cold recently and I haven't had school, I haven't been riding my bike. But today, I decided to take my camera, ride my bike downtown, and take some pictures. It was Christmas, so there were barely any people, but I spotted five ladies dancing and wanted to take some pictures of them.

But, doing something like that isn't so easy for me. If I want to take some good pictures, I have to get close to my subject (like the five ladies). If I get close and look like I'm going to take a picture, I don't know how that person will react. To me, that sort of thing is scary. I don't know why it's scary. I can ask them if I can take a picture, right? But, I want to take pictures without posing, so if I can, I'd like to take the pictures without asking.

I recently saw a post on this blog and thought that I wanted to take pictures like the ones on the blog. A Malaysian photographer went to Tokyo to take some pictures. Aren't his pictures great? Of course, the ones with people riding bikes are the best, but I also like the first picture, and the ones titled Happy People. Shinjuku, Rainy Streets in Akihabara, and Connecting Tunnels. Ebisu.

In order to take pictures like those, I have to practice different stuff. If I can develop a skill for walking up to a complete stranger, taking their picture, and then starting a conversation with them, I'll be able to use the skill in other situations, too. I'll be able to go to meet and talk with English teachers I don't know, start conversations with someone in order to make business connections, stuff like that. So, this practice isn't just for photography; it's related to other stuff, too.

Ah, right, about the five ladies. When I thought about it, they actually weren't so scary. If they are dancing in public, then they must expect other people to see them. Taking a picture of them wouldn't be so weird, so I thought that they'd be cool about it, so I approached them. When I did, one of them said, "Hey, could you take some pictures for me?" and handed me her camera. I took a few pictures with her camera, then I asked if I could take some with my own camera and got to it.

It went better than I thought it would, but afterwards I went someplace else and saw some other people, but I couldn't muster the courage to get close and take some pictures of them. (Well, I was able to take the picture above with the guy on his smartphone.) I was a bit hard on myself at first, but then when I thought about it, since I was able to take pictures of those ladies, I think my practice yesterday was a success. Weaknesses aren't something you can overcome all at once. I'll just keep moving forward one step at a time.