Same as the last time, the workshop was held in the meeting space in Tokyo with the full support of Cosmos International. Cosmos International arranged a large room for us so that we could keep social distancing during the workshop. We all wore face masks and disinfected our hands with alcohol. And the room was well-ventilated.
今回も、(株)コスモスインターナショナルさんの全面的なご協力で都内の会議室にて開催。密にならない広い会場をコスモスさんに手配していただき、マスク着用、アルコール消毒と換気に最大限の配慮をしました。

Wet-collodion process, a photographic technique popular in the Edo period, exposes and develops the images on a glass plate coated with chemicals. He sets up a tent as a darkroom at the shooting site because he has to develop the photo while the plate is still wet. Everett says he follows his gut feeling, like an artisan.
湿板光画は薬品を塗ったガラス板に画を造影させる幕末(19世紀)の技法。薬品が乾く前に現像しなくてはならないため、撮影現場に張ったテントを暗室代わりに行なう。職人のように自分の勘が頼りだという。

After making the wet plate collodion photograph to the digital data, he creates a collotype print of a photograph. Collotype print has been accomplished by applying a special ink on a plate. The technique is similar to its technique of a copper plate print art. Everett says that wet collodion process and collotype printing is the best way for expressing Japanese wabi-sabi or Japanese nostalgic sense of beauty.
湿板光画をデジタルデータにした後、コロタイプ印刷する。コロタイプは銅板版画のような技法で特別なインクをつくって塗布して行なう。日本のわびさびを表現するのに湿板光画＋コロタイプが一番向いているという。

Mr. Toyokawa from X-Rite has been a good supporter of SAMURAI FOTO. He came to the workshop to make a paper profile using a color measurement “i1 Pro2”. He is the most reliable person in Japan for recreating accurate color of the prints.
X-Rite社の冨川さんは以前からSAMURAI FOTOのサポーターでもあります。今回も測色器「 i1 Pro2」で用紙のプロファイルを作りに来てくださいました。プリントの正確な色再現には日本一頼りになる方です。

Hasumi, the president of SAMURAI FOTO, finished his lunch early and helped one of the participants to find a problem of his print. As the result of some tests, the problem caused because of the wrong setting for scanning from positives taken with Hassel’s film camera and the problems were all solved.
ランチを早めに終え参加者の印刷の問題点を一緒に探すSAMURAI FOTOの会長・蓮見さん。検証した結果、ハッセルのフィルムカメラで撮影したポジからスキャニングするときの設定と判明。無事に問題解決しました。

Yoshida also helped the participants. He listened carefully what they wanted for their printings and he retouched the images. Using Nic’s Silver Efex Pro for processing, he processed the image. It has a magenta-like tone with monochrome image. The participant was satisfied with the finish of the image.
吉田先生も参加者の希望を聞きながら画像をレタッチ。モノクロ調にしながらもマゼンダっぽいトーンになるようにNicのSilver Efex Proを使用して加工。望み通りの仕上がりに満足していただけました。

Hasumi explained his way of printing. Print the data converted to the double tone on Japanese paper　→ Do the Platinum palladium printing → Do Inkjet printing on the old Japanese paper → Using Holga’s toy camera and Inkjet. He tries various ways for making artworks which is not only old but also merges the latest digital technology. He has developed a creative way for printing.
ダブルトーンに変換したデータを和紙にプリント→プラチナパラジウムプリント→古い和紙にインクジェットプリント→ホルガのトイカメラ＋インクジェットと手法を替えてきた蓮見さんはただ古いだけでなく最新のデジタル技術と融合させた独特のプリント法でやっている。

Hasumi’s lecture of the history of contemporary art which started from Renaissance was easy to understand and interesting. Many people are fond of taking black and white photographs these days but you need to think why you have chosen monochrome photography. It is the issue that is always asked. So, writing the statement to “summarize your thought and opinion” for the photography is very important.
蓮見さんのルネサンスから始まる現代アート史の解説はわかりやすく興味深かった。最近はモノクロ作品が多いが、なぜモノクロなのかは必ず聞かれるので「自分なりの考えをまとめる」ために、まずステートメントをまとめておくことが大切だという。

Hasumi thinks that the art is like a plant. Sow the seeds of interest and take root of the research. When Hasumi writes the statement, he finds out what he likes and starts to study. And then he emphasizes his own experiences and feelings rather than the general theory and writes simply what he really wants to tell.
「アートは植物。興味の種を播き探究の根を張ることだ」という蓮見さん。そのステートメントの作り方は好きなことを調べて勉強することから始まるという。そして、一般論より自分の体験や感覚を重視し、伝えたいことをわかりやすく書くように心がけている。

As all of us were impressed by the prints of Kiyoshi Niiyama last time, we asked his son, the president of Cosmos International, to bring and show some selections of his father’s printings again. Even now, the subjectivism of his artworks is still new to us, and gives us the informative perspective.
前回のセミナーで好評だったたため、今回もコスモスインターナショナルの新山社長に、新山清さんのプリントを持ってきていただいた。今見ても新しい切り口の主観主義の作品はとても参考になる視点を提示してくれています。

It is extremely treasurable that so many prints more than 50 years ago are still there. The contact printings are left as well and we can see how they were trimmed and printed. No one thought of the way of trimming like he had done which was a kind of “a-ha” moment.
50年以上前のプリントがこれだけ残っているだけでも貴重。コンタクトプリントも残されていて、どのようにトリミングしてプリントしたかもわかる。誰も考えつかないようなトリミングは眼から鱗でした。

Niiyama stayed and joined until the end of the workshop and gave some advice to the participants when they showed their printings. Since he has developed Kiyoshi’s printings, his comments were a little tip for the participants. Niiyama’s ideas would never have occurred to us.
新山社長には参加者のプリント発表にも参加していただいた。新山清さんのプリントを現像をしているだけあって、新山社長のコメントはちょっとしたアドバイスのようで、じつはわれわれではなかなか気づかない発想だ。