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被写体のボランティア
このコラムで友人をネタにしてしまうことが多い雅子さん。先日、そのお返しの意味も込めて、写真家を目指す友人のために、モデルを務めることになりました。殺風景な写真学校のスタジオで、5、6人の生徒の前でポーズを取るのですが、自然な表情を作ることは難しく、プロの写真家とモデルの苦労を知りました。
Volunteer Model
By MASAKO YAMADA
One of my friends has always had a creative bent and she carries around her camera all the
time. She is infamous for snapping photos of her friends in rather embarrassing situations,
but at the same time, her friends have often appreciated the candid results. She has put a
lot of thought and effort into her hobby even though she has not had much formal training.
However, she has recently decided that she needs a more solid foundation in order to pursue
the art further, and has started to take classes in subjects such as graphic design and studio
photography.
When it comes to photography, however, classroom learning doesn't really mean that students
sit at their desks and take lecture notes. They spend most of their time actually taking
pictures and evaluating the results with a critical eye.
It takes different kinds of skills to take different kinds of pictures: awesome natural
scenery, beautiful bowls of fruit and ballet dancers on stage certainly cannot be treated in
the same manner. In my friend's class, the students are learning to take pictures of posed people
in a studio setting.
This means that the class is always looking for models — models who will pose for free, no less.
My friend sent out an e-mail message to many of her friends asking whether they'd be willing to be
models in her class.
She says that many of those people gave a positive response. I am one of the people. She made it
clear that the students were not looking for supermodels but rather people who would be able to
pose naturally, so I figured I'd be a sufficient candidate. Besides, I wanted to help her
pursue her goal of becoming a better photographer.
It's true that I probably would not have volunteered so readily if she were an aspiring
acupuncturist, plastic surgeon or hairstylist. But I knew that posing for a photography class
wouldn't hurt me at all, except perhaps for the knowledge that a whole classroom of students
would have photos of me (many of them in rather unflattering poses) that they might later
include in an exhibition or portfolio.
I've used my friends as topics for my articles so often that I figured that I could pay back a
little.
There is a photography school three minutes away from my laboratory and this is where the
session was held. I walked inside the photography school for the first time. The decor was
extremely stark. As far as I could see, there were no typical classrooms with desks and
blackboards. Instead, all of the rooms were box-shaped spaces with gray walls.
Lights, curtains, umbrellas, screens and wires were scattered about. The students took a long
time to adjust the angles of everything. Far from being glamorous, the scene of my first photo
shoot was practical and even a little grim.
The people in the classroom were very casual and nice, however, and I felt comfortable. They were
not the artsy sort. Rather, they seemed like kindly neighbors who happened to like taking
pictures.
As soon as they got the equipment ready, I sat on the designated seat, and the students
started snapping away. Five or six students must have taken photos of me.
They did not shoot all at once. Rather, they took pictures one at a time, since each student had
to plug his or her camera into the lighting setup to synchronize the flash and the
shutter. Besides, each student needed to practice moving me around.
I found it extremely difficult to create expressions that I didn't feel naturally. I suppose
it's common for professional photographers to coax brilliant smiles or sexy pouts from
professionals models even in the starkest of settings, but with amateur photographers and an
amateur model, this seemed nearly impossible.
While I was sitting in the studio, I felt newfound admiration for both professional
photographers and models for being able to create mood out of nowhere.
I have seen some copies of the photos that were taken, and sure enough, most of them are too
cheesy or too stiff. Two or three photos came out quite naturally, however, and it made me
want to learn more about what it is that makes these things "click." I'm sure the aspiring
photographers are trying to figure this out as well.
One of my friends has always had a creative bent and she carries around her camera all the
time. She is infamous for snapping photos of her friends in rather embarrassing situations,
but at the same time, her friends have often appreciated the candid results. She has put a
lot of thought and effort into her hobby even though she has not had much formal training.
However, she has recently decided that she needs a more solid foundation in order to pursue
the art further, and has started to take classes in subjects such as graphic design and studio
photography.
When it comes to photography, however, classroom learning doesn't really mean that students
sit at their desks and take lecture notes. They spend most of their time actually taking
pictures and evaluating the results with a critical eye.
It takes different kinds of skills to take different kinds of pictures: awesome natural
scenery, beautiful bowls of fruit and ballet dancers on stage certainly cannot be treated in
the same manner. In my friend's class, the students are learning to take pictures of posed people
in a studio setting.
This means that the class is always looking for models — models who will pose for free, no less.
My friend sent out an e-mail message to many of her friends asking whether they'd be willing to be
models in her class.
She says that many of those people gave a positive response. I am one of the people. She made it
clear that the students were not looking for supermodels but rather people who would be able to
pose naturally, so I figured I'd be a sufficient candidate. Besides, I wanted to help her
pursue her goal of becoming a better photographer.
It's true that I probably would not have volunteered so readily if she were an aspiring
acupuncturist, plastic surgeon or hairstylist. But I knew that posing for a photography class
wouldn't hurt me at all, except perhaps for the knowledge that a whole classroom of students
would have photos of me (many of them in rather unflattering poses) that they might later
include in an exhibition or portfolio.
I've used my friends as topics for my articles so often that I figured that I could pay back a
little.
There is a photography school three minutes away from my laboratory and this is where the
session was held. I walked inside the photography school for the first time. The decor was
extremely stark. As far as I could see, there were no typical classrooms with desks and
blackboards. Instead, all of the rooms were box-shaped spaces with gray walls.
Lights, curtains, umbrellas, screens and wires were scattered about. The students took a long
time to adjust the angles of everything. Far from being glamorous, the scene of my first photo
shoot was practical and even a little grim.
The people in the classroom were very casual and nice, however, and I felt comfortable. They were
not the artsy sort. Rather, they seemed like kindly neighbors who happened to like taking
pictures.
As soon as they got the equipment ready, I sat on the designated seat, and the students
started snapping away. Five or six students must have taken photos of me.
They did not shoot all at once. Rather, they took pictures one at a time, since each student had
to plug his or her camera into the lighting setup to synchronize the flash and the
shutter. Besides, each student needed to practice moving me around.
I found it extremely difficult to create expressions that I didn't feel naturally. I suppose
it's common for professional photographers to coax brilliant smiles or sexy pouts from
professionals models even in the starkest of settings, but with amateur photographers and an
amateur model, this seemed nearly impossible.
While I was sitting in the studio, I felt newfound admiration for both professional
photographers and models for being able to create mood out of nowhere.
I have seen some copies of the photos that were taken, and sure enough, most of them are too
cheesy or too stiff. Two or three photos came out quite naturally, however, and it made me
want to learn more about what it is that makes these things "click." I'm sure the aspiring
photographers are trying to figure this out as well.
Shukan ST: Oct. 27, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
- (has)had a creative bent
- 創造的なことが好きだ
- infamous for 〜
- 〜 で知られる
- snapping photos
- 写真を撮る
- embarrassing
- 恥ずかしい
- (have)appreciated
- 評価してきた
- candid result
- ポーズをとっていない、ありのままの仕上がり
- solid foundation
- しっかりした基礎
- pursue the art further
- 写真をもっと勉強する
- When it comes to 〜
- 〜 のこととなると
- lecture notes
- 講義ノート
- evaluating
- 評価する
- critical
- 批評的な
- It takes 〜 to 〜
- 〜 するには 〜 が必要だ
- awesome
- 素晴らしい
- scenery
- 景色
- cannot be treated in the same manner
- 同じように扱うことはできない
- figured
- 考えた
- sufficient candidate
- 十分資格のある候補者
- readily
- 快く
- aspiring 〜
- 〜 の卵
- acupuncutrist
- 針治療師
- plastic surgeon
- 整形外科医
- hairstylist
- 美容師
- wouldn't hart me at all
- 自分は全然痛い思いをしない
- unflattering 〜
- 悪いところも隠さず見せる 〜
- exhibition
- 展示会
- portfolio
- 作品集
- pay back
- お返しをする
- laboratory
- 研究室
- session
- 集まり
- decor
- 室内の装飾
- extremely
- 非常に
- stark
- がらんとした
- typical
- 典型的な
- blackboards
- 黒板
- umbrellas
- 光を反射させるアンブレラ
- were scattered about
- 散らばっていた
- glamorous
- 華やかな
- shoot
- 撮影
- practical
- 実務的な
- grim
- 厳しい
- artsy sort
- 芸術家を気取るような人
- kindly neighbors
- 親切な近所の人
- happened to 〜
- たまたま 〜 だ
- equipment
- 機材
- designated seat
- 決められた席
- snapping away
- 次から次へと写真を撮る
- plug 〜 into 〜
- 〜 を 〜 につなぐ
- lighting setup
- 照明機材
- synchronize the flash and the shutter
- シャッターを押すと同時にフラッシュが光るようにする
- expressions
- 表情
- coax 〜
- うまく説き伏せて 〜 を引き出す
- brilliant
- 最高の
- pouts
- 口をとがらせた表情
- newfound admiration
- 新たな感嘆の念
- out of nowhere
- 何もないところから
- sure enough
- 案の定
- cheesy
- うそっぽい
- stiff
- こわばった
- makes 〜 "click"
- 〜 をうまく行かせる
- figure this out
- このことを分かる
-
-