「上海蒐影」 松永泰明 

「Finding Shadow of Shanhai」  Taimei Matsunaga




  

上海を初めて訪れたのは2年程前のこと。周辺の水郷の街を撮影するのが目的だった。帰国のために空港に向かう車中から目に入った光景が私の心に強烈な響きをあたえた。そこには高層ビルの谷間に漂う廃墟同然の家屋の群れがあった。私はこれまで近代化されていく街の影としか言いようのないものに惹かれ、染みのように浮かび上がってくる世界を撮り続けてきた。求めていた被写体はその街に生息する人々の手垢にまみれた生活の場なのだと確信した。
数ヵ月後、私のまなざしにこびりつくように現像されていたその場所を訪れると、建物の半分は無残にも取り壊されていた。2010年5月に開催される万博に向けて、予定氏となっている街の整備が進んでいるからだった。市内のいたるところで開発が行われていることを聞き、解体前の街を急いで探し撮影することにした。私のまなざしが納得する街に出会った頃には夜もふけていた。足を一歩踏み入れるとゴミと香辛料が入り混じったような独特の臭気がまとわりつく。都市の光がとどかず、暗い夜の闇に覆われ、そこはまるで異界への入り口だった。人々はいつ壊されるのか分からない時空を静かにたくましく生きていた。
家を案内してくれた老人は家主と政府との交渉がついたことで、まもなく住み慣れた家を去らねばならない運命にあった。彼は自らの境遇を嘆くわけでもなく、何かに怒るわけでもなく、不朽の法を知るものとして生きているように思えた。万博開催時に再び訪れた時、その場は高速バスセンターと3車線の道路に生まれ変わり、都市の光が街を隅々まで照らし出していた。
未来都市に変貌する街から取り残され、中国の大きな流れに関わることなく生きる人々。「今・ここ」という絶対的な時と場だけに生きる彼らに潔い力強さを感じた。付加価値のないものとして負の遺産の烙印を押され、消え去ろうとしている人間の根底にある何ものかに惹かれ、私は彼らのまなざしをフィルムに焼き付けた。

The first time I visited Shanghai was about 2 years ago.  My objective was to do a shoot of lakeside districts in the surrounding area. On my way to the airport to go back to Japan, the scenery I saw from the car window left strong echoes in my heart. There were ruins of residential houses floating in the valley of high rises.  I have always been fascinated by what I call "the shadow of modernizing cities" and I have been shooting the world that comes up to the surface like stains. I became certain that the photo subjects I have been searching for was the bare and dirty living of the people who are the inhabitants of this area.

A few months later, I came back to the same area, the imageries had been stuck like it was printed on the back of my eyes. Half of the buildings were already torn down mercilessly. It was due to the city's redevelopment plan for the EXPO, which was to be held in May of 2010. I was told that the redevelopment was in progress all over the city, so I decided to shoot the city before the area gets completely dismantled.

Just when I thought I found my subject, it was dark already. As I set my foot in, unique mixed up odor of garbageand spices, etc. find their ways into my nose.

City lights do not reach here; wrapped up in thedarkness of black night, I felt as if I was entering a different world. People were still living in this time and space, quietly and strongly, knowing that their area will be destroyed in the near future.

An old man who showed me his house told me that negotiation between house-owner and the government had reached an agreement and he had to leave his house soon, where he had lived for a long time. He was not complaining about his situation. He was not angry. He seemed as though he was living as just another person who understands the Tao's "law of nature." When I visited the place again during EXPO, the place has turned into a highway bus center and a big road consisting of 3 lanes and the city lights had spotlessly illuminated the entire place.

There are people who are left out from rapid changesof to-be-future-cities, there are people who have nothing to do with gigantic flows of China. They live "right here and right now" which is something undeniably real, there is something overwhelmingly powerful in their simple philosophy. They have been labeled as "debts" with novalue to add and they are told to fade away. Something at the bottom of their humanity lured mevery strongly. So I printed their eyes on my films.