mountain valley. Yes, I met Nagoshi-san before I started photography, when I was still in a band. I met Mr. Nagoya when I was still in a band, before I started photography, so he was the first photographer I met in my life.

famous personYes, we were a punk band with a twist. Did we participate in some kind of contest together?

mountain valleyThe event was hosted by Beams, and it was a gathering of all the weirdly dressed people in Harajuku! It was something like that. Mr. Nagoshi was taking pictures there.

famous person. The person organizing the event happened to be an acquaintance of mine, and he said to me, "Bring some bikers or other unusual people, Mr. Nagoshi. . When I thought about what to do, I said to my friend, "Oh, there's George-kun," and called out to him.

mountain valley. and he was in a band with me.

famous personThen George won first place in a contest. We said, "Nagoshi-kun, film our band," and we said, "Let's do it.

mountain valleyAt that time, you had just published your first photo book, "Excuse Me. He pulled it out of a brown paper bag and showed it to me, saying, "This is what I'm shooting. I remember seeing it at a Lotteria on Takeshita-dori. After that, I started taking pictures myself, and when I was studying various things, the style of the first photographer I met seemed to fit my taste, or rather, the style of the first photographer I met.

Mr. Nagoya is not trying to say anything socially conscious in his photographs, but he does go into such places and take photos there, which is a natural thing to do. He is a photographer who is competing on the strength of his universal photography. In Japan, there is a tendency for photographers to be either very socially minded or art oriented, trying to expand their photographic expression. The only person who manages to do both is you, Mr. Nagoya. I still feel the same way.

famous person: Ha ha ha , I guess so.

mountain valley. But I always feel that there is a big difference in generation between you and me, Mr. Nagoya. In the first place, this photo book was inspired by your desire to work with a writer (co-author Makoto Fujino), wasn't it?　Or, the editor might suggest a place for a photo shoot, and then you would find it.

Basically, I think that "partnering with someone" is an image that you have in your mind as a photographer, but I have never had that image at all. I have never thought of teaming up with anyone. . I wonder if there is a generational difference between us as photographers. This is also linked to the era in which magazines lost their vitality.

famous personI started my career when I had my picture featured in the reportage page of a magazine called "BURST". It was common practice to combine photography and writing into a single set, and I had been shooting in such places for a long time. Of course, I went to the field by myself.

mountain valley. The generation younger than mine really doesn't have the sense of reportage in magazines. . I was the one who saw Mr. Nagoshi's first photo in that "BURST" magazine at TSUTAYA in the countryside. . I wasn't doing photography at that time, but what I saw in the picture was first of all strong and interesting. . It didn't matter what the photo was about, it was always in my brain.

famous personI was given about 40 rolls of positive film by Pisken (Ken Sone, former editor-in-chief of "BURST"), the editor-in-chief at the time, out of the blue. He told me to go out and shoot something interesting with them. At the time, I was shooting American squatters and such, so I think I went there to show them to him. I didn't have a house, so I stayed at Mr. Pisken's house for about a week. It is quite unusual nowadays to have a photographer who comes to your house to sell his work to you stay there. So, I think the biggest thing for me is that I was raised by my editor.

famous person. In a sense, it was difficult because the subjects this time were people who lived in an apartment complex and were nobody. For example, with gangs in some other country, it is possible to take pictures if you control the subject to some extent or aim for a certain situation. . but in an apartment complex, there is nothing, so it's not dramatic. This time, I didn't make up any situations, nor did I move the subjects. I wanted to do it from that point of view.

Also, since they could speak Japanese, it was important for me to be able to communicate directly with them. It was difficult for me to communicate with them too much, even though it was not really necessary for photography.

But, after all, it is lonely when you are alone in an apartment complex, isn't it? There is nothing to do. But I felt like there was someone there, and gradually I started talking with them and going outside to distract myself from the loneliness. I had never done that before.

famous personIn the end, I will return to Japan, even if I live there for a couple of months. But in this case, the place I was returning to was an apartment complex, and the subject lived there. This may be the first time for me to do such a thing. It was really just a matter of taking pictures of everyday life. At first, I was thinking of using a rented room as a studio and doing business with the Brazilians in the apartment complex. We would have a drink together, and then they would say, "Please film me too," or something like that. But that was difficult (laughs).

mountain valleyI think you must have been lonely.　I am sure that I spent a lot of time alone in depression this time, but I have the impression that the number of landscape photos in the photo book increased because of that. I guess you could say it's the emotional part. That is a new element for you, isn't it?

famous person. surprisingly, some people say they like the pictures of that scenery. But anyway, I had a lot of free time. I had nothing to do. There was nothing to do in Homi Danchi . When you look at the photos in the book, it looks like they are having a party and having a lot of fun. But there is usually nothing going on. . Well, maybe it's the same for everything.

. Actually, when I started going to Hohmi, I was having fun every day. The boys were young, only 14 or 5 years old, and they were still stuck in the confines of the so-called "apartment complex," and they were trying to have fun somehow, even though they didn't have any money. They were trying to have fun even though they didn't have any money. But after a couple of years, they started moving out of the complex, right?　Then, I felt that the people I was filming were losing half their appeal.

famous person: The freedom in the midst of the stagnation was a very interesting part of filming, but it's not there anymore. In the beginning, everyone had free time, and I had free time too, so we met every night, and we built relationships from that, getting to know their parents, getting to know their families, and so on.

As you said earlier, I guess my appearance on TV had a big influence on me. At first, people didn't know who I was, and that was interesting. It was more fun when people thought, "What's up with you, you old guy? But gradually, I began to be conscious of the fact that I was being called "Mr." and that they were aware of me. That was not what I was looking for, and I felt that I could no longer do that. . I guess that was the deciding factor in my decision to stop filming.

mountain valley. Of course, there are many more in the history of photography, but I think that such a classic and natural style has to be done "at the time". . I think that's where I recognize the distance from the history of photography in my own way. So, that's fine for the first album. Even the Beatles' first album was more than half covers (laughs). (Laughs.) I thought I should leave my feelings at that time, that I was there. It's like an initial impulse.

When I first started photography, I went to squats in Europe in search of interesting subjects to photograph, and I also photographed punks in Thailand, which was a lot of fun. In Japan, there were not many young people in such scenes, and in Southeast Asia, punks, on the other hand, were young because the culture itself had just arrived there. I think it is always nice to visit such places.

famous person. and originality.

mountain valleyIn the case of Japan, however, I was able to come into direct contact with the culture that started in the 1970s, so when I went to such a scene as a teenager, I already had seniors. When I went to a place that I thought was interesting, there was a vertical society there. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

famous person. Before you know it, you're stuck in a mold, aren't you? There were many people in the complex who seemed to fit into the mold but didn't, but once they got outside, they were influenced by various things and became more and more stuck in the mold. Maybe it is the same for me.

mountain valleyIn my case, I have the strong presence of Mr. Nagoya, and rather than going to interesting places to take interesting pictures, I decided to take pictures from my own personal point of view. My photos don't necessarily show the subject's face, and I don't think that someone should be someone else, so I always think that this is what makes my photos different from my own. When I go to a squat, I am probably in the third or fourth position. When I think about what I should be doing in this day and age, I think, "I'll leave that to you. Mr. Nagoya is doing it, and I want to watch him do it.

famous person. What was interesting about living in the Homi housing complex this time was that among the Brazilians living in the complex, there were some who could not identify with either Japan or Brazil. They originally came to Japan as migrant workers, but they cannot adjust to life in Japan, and it is difficult for them to live back in Brazil. . But they can live only in their apartment complexes.

Of course, Brazil is not a very safe country, but it is when they are living in Japan that the number of tattoos increases. Many children are bullied when they return to Brazil and are not allowed to go outside. People want to live in Homi-danchi because it is safe, and recently there are more people who want to live in Japan in the future even if they go back to Brazil. There was even one who jumped to his death, saying he never wanted to go back. I could go on and on, but there is no end to it.

But most of the recent photo books are "dark". They are very personal, like "I can't leave my house. It's hard to put it well, but I feel that such photos are becoming more and more mainstream. Especially among girls. Rather than photos of people licking each other's wounds, I feel that this kind of thing should be allowed to happen.　I think it's okay to have this kind of thing rather than pictures of people licking each other's wounds.

mountain valley. but there are so many of them, aren't there? I would like to say more simply, let's go out .

famous person. I think it's no use taking pictures of people you know. It's interesting because you meet people you don't know. . It's not that there's anything wrong with personal, dark things.

mountain valley. It's very current, isn't it? . But it still feels like a passive rehash, doesn't it? . . everything now is the same as it was just 20 years ago, and it's all music. But that's okay, right? As long as it is interesting. But I don't see anything new in this rehash. It's all just a bunch of neatly put-together, cool stuff, and that's it. Anyone with a sense of style can make something cool. To be honest, I don't want to do that anymore.

For example, a few years ago, zines became popular, but I think that even zines were initially a way to teach people around you about things you didn't know. There's a really bad band out there! Look at this feeling I have! I don't care if they don't understand me. I still think that is the role of zines, but they have become a way to share the very personal lives of the people around you with only those who have a sense of closeness to you. I thought that not spending money or spending time on a zine is not a zine. . Even if you show me something like that, it doesn't move my heart anymore.

famous personI think it would be good if there were more photo collections like this one. I think it would be good to have more photo books like this one. Not all of them are about me.

mountain valley. I guess they are all people who think they know. Even the Homi Danchi may already be known to the danchi enthusiasts, and a quick search on the Internet may turn up a lot of information about it. I think that people are satisfied with their own knowledge of the danchi nowadays, but that is not what a photographer is supposed to do. No matter how hard it is, if we don't create something like this, it will disappear before we know it.

But, after all, shouldn't the position of a photographer like Keisuke Nagoshi within the narrow framework of today's photographic world be written about somewhere?　I think that for young aspiring photographers, Mr. Nagoshi is a person who is left in limbo. That would be a waste of time and money.

I am sure that "BLUE FIRE" could have been shot in a more artistic way. However, the workers are clearly in the photographs, and that is exactly the style of Mr. Nagoshi. . That's why I think the book deserves more recognition.

famous person: Ha ha ha , I'm so happy to hear that. Myself, too, I was like, "It's art!" and I wonder if I could sell a little more if I took an abstract picture of that one?　Because I actually went to the workers' hut at the foot of the Blue Fire and there was Sebastião Salgado's signature on it. It was already marked (laughs). I thought, "My senior, that's amazing. And the workers said to me, "Do you know who Salgado is?" (laughs). He shoots in black and white. I think that's why I didn't go to Blue Fire after all.

mountain valley: Eh, you didn't go?

famous person. You can't take pictures of Blue Fire with film. The whole area is pitch black, and even if you shoot with a flash, it will look strange. You have to shoot digitally at very high sensitivity to get a flashy image. So I borrowed equipment from Canon, and it worked out just fine.

mountain valley: Yes, that is a very enviable existence. I really think so.

famous person. Indeed, Kage-san's selection of photographs may be a significant factor. In this collection, there is no easy-to-understand ending, as in the case of "SMOKEY MOUNTAIN" and "BLUE FIRE". It is really just the everyday life of a Japanese housing complex, and I think it was difficult to design.

The first design I was asked to work on, I thought it was a little different from what I had in mind, so I honestly told Kage about it. Then, Mr. Kage asked me to give him a chance to think about it, and the next design he came up with had a structure that made me say, "Wow! The next design he came up with was a composition that made me go, "Wow! The next design he came up with made me think, "Wow!

famous person: hahaha , I didn't realize that by myself after all. . thanks to Fujino-san and Kage-san. Of course, I know I was the one taking the pictures, but I never thought they would be included in the photo book (laughs). Indeed, everyone in the Homi complex says, "The food is so good! Everyone in the Homi housing complex is always saying, "The food is good! They always say, "I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat! Meat from the restaurants in that area is very tasty.

So, it is a very pop act to choose such a photo . Even for the cover, using such a logo and font is not common for a photo book. It's very cute (laughs). I didn't want the book to be a photo book in the sense of a photo book, but I also wanted it to be something that could be read as neither a magazine nor a book. Kage-san understood that.

mountain valley. I feel that I have reached my limits in this area. Until now, I have been taking pictures by myself, doing the layout, and printing by myself. I could easily summarize what I wanted to say that way, and the money would go into my own pocket in the end, so I was fine with that. Or, you can ask someone to distribute it to you. I feel strongly about the necessity of such things now.

famous person. Then, of course, there is the photographer's editor. For "SMOKEY MOUNTAIN," I was shooting at Trash Mountain on January 1, when I received an e-mail from Charlie (the late Fumihiro Hayashi, editor). I opened it and found a very famous English poem titled "The Wasteland" (a famous long poem by T.S. Eliot, a British poet. It is also the basis for the movie "Hell's Revelation"). It was written there with the words "Hang in there," which gave me a lot of hints when I was shooting. Well, (Charlie) is already dead.

mountain valley. I also like the fact that this photo book is priced at 2,980 yen. I feel that you don't want to make the photos into art, or you want to deliver them in a flash, and I feel that kind of spirit. That is really important, isn't it? Nowadays, magazines have become less powerful, while galleries have become stronger for photographers. In contrast to this, I can sense that you are determined to compete on your own as a photographer, even when it comes to price.

Even photo books, both in Japan and overseas, are priced at several thousand yen or ten thousand yen, without hesitation, don't you think?　But I wonder how that should be done.　I think it's not really right. I am a member of a gallery, so I can't say it too loudly, but I think that photographers should not all belong to galleries and should do as they please. I feel that if that were the case, art fairs in Japan would become more interesting. I always feel that way, and that is why your presence, including your photographs, is so encouraging. You are surrounded by many people, but in the end, you are always a lone wolf. That's what I would like to achieve as well.

famous person. you say good things.

mountain valley. . because this interview is for the purpose of selling this photo book (laughs). But really, what Mr. Nagoya is doing is interesting. Also, I don't smell money coming from Mr. Nagoya, so that's good .

mountain valley.: The one who smells money doesn't talk about money.

famous personI wonder: what do you think? I don't know, I've never had money before , hahaha.