Love, Strength and Will...

She is one of my favorites.

When I saw her for the first time in the mid of Summer, she was really cautious, and ended up running away to disappear in a narrow alley of my neighbor's flat building. She was always by herself in the same garbage bin trying to get some leftovers. I wondered why she would give me such a sharp gazing at me all the time...

She was just a mother.

She looked devastate in the garbage bin scratching plastic trash backs to break it with her sharp nails. She just wanted food for her breast milk to feed her babies who was waiting for her somewhere safe in the alley.

彼女は私にお気に入りだ。

夏の最中に初めて見た時は、とても警戒心が強く、近所のアパートの裏路地へ逃げ込んでいた。いつも一匹で、ご飯を漁る為に同じごみ籠にいた。どうして彼女はいつだってそんな鋭い視線を投げかけるんだろう・・・。

彼女は母親だった。

彼女は鋭い爪でゴミ袋を破ろうと、ゴミ箱の中で必死に見えた。彼女はただ裏路地のどこか安全なところで待つ子供たちのため、ミルクを与えるためにご飯が欲しかったんだ。




A month ago, her babies started coming out of the back street. They were very playful, but always around her. Since she had gotten used to my appearance somehow because I occasionally brought some food for them, she sometimes tried to approach me closer to get food. However her babies were still hiding in the back to see what it is going on.

It was normally around midnight to see her family because it must've been quite safe and comfortable for them to be around. From a certain distance, I observed them playing under the light of street lights. When I got a chance to see them during daytime, I took their photos.

一か月前、彼女の子供たちは裏路地から表に出るようになった。とても遊び好きで、いつも彼女の周りにいる。彼女も幾分私の存在にも慣れいた。時折、食べ物を運んでいたからだ。時にはご飯をもらおうと彼女から近づいてくることもある。しかしながら、子供たちはまだ裏に隠れながら様子を伺っていた。

彼女の家族の様子を伺うのは普段は深夜頃になる。出回るには彼らにとって安全で居心地がいい深夜が良かったのだろう。距離を保ちながら、街灯の明かりの下で遊ぶ子供たちを眺める。昼間に見かけることがあれば、彼らの姿をカメラに収めた。



Probably around 2 weeks ago, she suddenly disappeared around the garbage bin. Even her kids. I wondered if they moved to a different territory, or not. A while later, however, 2 of her kids came back by themselves. And she was not there.

Observing stray cats' life is very interesting. For my photography works, they are very attractive subjects. I'm trying to find the reasons now why I get fascinated with them very much lately. Through the view finder of my camera, their life and especially their gazing with various expressions give me a chill.

"Do you live your life to the utmost?

"What is love for you?"
"What is strength for you?"
"What is will for you?"

I always feel admonished something by them reading my mind.

Since they might know those answers, that's why I get fascinated by them.

２週間ほど前だろうか、突然とゴミ籠付近から彼女は消えた。子供たちでさえ。違うテリトリーにでも移動したのだろうか・・・。しばらくして、２匹の子供たちだけ戻って来たが彼女の姿はなかった。

野良猫の生活を見るのはとても面白い。そして私の写真活動にとっても、彼らは良い被写体になってくれる。最近はなぜこのように野良猫たちに惹かれるようになったのか、その理由を探しているところである。

”あなたは精一杯人生を生きるの？”

”あなたにとって愛って何？”
”あなたにとって強さって何？”
”あなたにとって意思って何？”

彼らが私の心よ読みながら何か諭されているんじゃないかという感覚を覚えてしまう。

その問いの答えを知っているから、彼らに惹かれるのかもしれない・・・。