【英語と教養】｜I'VE LIVED IN EAST LONDON FOR 86 ½ YEARS 【ENG SUB】
MAYBE READ THIS BIT FIRST
この本との出会いは、イギリスに本店を構える日用雑貨店「LABOUR AND WAIT」の日本初の路面店「LABOUR AND WAIT TOKYO」での一目惚れでした。
紳士的な風貌のおじいさんが、落書きで覆われた建物を背にカメラに眼差しを向け立っている。その手にはビニール袋というアンバランス感。
ふとこの表紙が目に飛び込み、なぜか分からない魅力を感じました。
East London、Hackney在住の写真家であるMartin Usborneさんはある日、レジ袋を手にぶら下げ、肩からずり落ちたオーバーサイズのブレザー、足を引きずりながらのそのそとHoxton Squareに入っていく一人の老人を見つけます。群衆の中であまりにも相反するその姿から、迷子かまたはホームレスかとMatinさんは憶測しますが、後にその先入観は間違いだったということが明らかになります。
男性の名前は Joseph Markovitch（故86歳）。そしてこの本は、生涯をEast Londonで過ごしたJosephさんの言葉を、Martineさんによって撮影された写真と共に収めたものです。その中からいくつかの興味深いテーマをピックアップし、自分なりの考察を綴ってみたいと思います。
ON HOME
“I’ve never left England.”
“I’ve lived in East London all my life and that’s my home.”
生まれてから86年間、East Londonに住み続けたJosephさん。日本人の私たちに置き換えて考えてみても、他の都道府県に引っ越したことがないということはよくあります。しかし、仕事、パートナーなどの様々な要因やライフステージの変化によって住む街が変わることは容易にあります。
彼がなぜそこまでEast Londonにこだわり続けたのかは明かされていませんが、時代や文化の変化を目の当たりにしてきた中で「変わらない」ということを選んできた彼が核となる人生観を確立していたことは間違いないでしょう。
ON RELATIONSHIPS
“I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
Josephさんは持病や家庭の事情もあり、一度も彼女やパートナーという存在をもったことがありませんでした。まるでそんな自分を正当化しているかのように「もし結婚していたら、人生の全てを妻に支配されてしまっているだろう」と話しています。
また、このページでは次のような言葉も綴られています。
“I’ve seen the horse and cart, I’ve seen the camera invented, I’ve seen the projector. I never starved, that’s the main thing.”
どんなに新しく便利なものが世の中に増えても、決して欲しないということを大事にしていました。ネガティブな物事に中にあるポジティブな要素にいかに気付けるか、自分の置かれた状況を俯瞰的に見ることの重要さを訴えかけられているかのようです。
ON MANNERS
"Money don't make you polite. "
"What makes you polite is that if you are brought up poor, and then you get rich, then you are polite because the suffering makes it like that."
ある日バスに乗っていると、一人のスマートな男性が鞄を車内に忘れそうになり、Josephさんは後を追いかけ鞄を男性に渡します。しかし、その男性は感謝の言葉を口にしませんでした。このエピソードから、Josephさんが礼儀を重んじていたことが分かります。
お金を始めとするいかなることにおいて「苦悩」は人を成長させ、そして礼儀を覚えさせてくれます。自分たちがいかに他人に生かされているか、私たちはもっと意識しなければならないのではないでしょうか。
ON GLOBALISATION
“If I went to the jungle and was very clever I would be a missionary and be a person that helps others. But, I'm not in a jungle, so I go to the library instead.”
体こそ常にEast Londonにありながらも、Josephさんの頭の中は生き生きとした想像に溢れていました。図書館に通い本を読むのが好きで、本を通して世界中を旅しました。
私たちは何かを切望しそれを実際に手にしたり経験できた時、思っていたほどの幸福感を感じられなかったということが少なくありません。皮肉なことに、あらゆるものが手に入りやすくなった世の中だからこそ、手に入らないという状態がもたらす豊かさというものもあるのかもしれません。
ON REALITY
“You know when you see the news and you see a man in front of Big Ben? He’s not there. He’s in a studio. It’s all like that these days.”
“We’re always looking at the screen but it’s not really there.”
“With modern technology we shouldn’t be so busy.”
私たちの生活にあらゆる利便性をもたらしてきたテクノロジーの発展はいつしか「つながりすぎた世の中」を形成し、処理しきれないほどの情報に振り回され疲弊してしまうという状況に。
インターネットで検索できる世界は画面越しに過ぎず、ただその解像度の高さに見惚れてしまうばかり。「もっと外に出てリアルを見るべきだ」と言われているような感覚を覚えました。
ON THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE
“The most important thing I own is my keys. And my bus pass. And my belt.”
家に着いたとき、鍵がなければ家に入れません。バスの定期がないと帰る手段がなくなってしまいます。そしてもしベルトがなかったら？「ズボンが脱げ落ちてしまっていたら、バスに乗らせてもらえないだろう」とJosephさんは話します。
シンプルな生活を送るJosephさんが大事にしていること、それは毎日家に帰ることなのです。
ON THE FUTURE
“They will make photographs that talk. You will look at a picture of me and you will hear me say: ‘Hello, I’m Joseph Markovitch’ and it will be me telling you about things. Imagine that!”
“Nothing much changes around here in the end.”
本の中で度々、テクノロジーの進化がもたらす危険性について言及しているJosephさんですが、ただ否定的な意見を述べるだけでなく彼の想像力を示すことで、アイデアへの探究心を鼓舞してくれます。
いつか本書に綴られた彼の言葉を、彼の声で聞くことができたらどんなに素敵だろうか という思いに耽ってしまいます。
MAYBE READ THIS BIT LAST
87歳の誕生日を5日後に控えた2013年12月26日、Josephさんは惜しくも亡くなりました。2007年から彼の人生を写真に収め続ける中で彼から数多くの学びやインスピレーションを受けたMartinさんは、Josephさんの写真展の開催、そして後に出会った妻と出版会社「Hoxton mini press」を創業するに至ります。
“See other people as they are“
Josephさんは静かな生活を送っていましたが、とても豊かな人生でした。実際に世界を旅することはなかったものの、彼が持つ内なる好奇心と想像力のおかげで、彼は頭の中でどこまでも旅をすることができたのです。
街中で出会う見知らぬ人に対し、曇りない瞳でありのままを見ようとする彼のその誠実さは簡単に真似できるものではありませんが、誰もが努力すべきことではないでしょうか。
“Live it while you can（生きられるうちに生きなさい）”
by Joseph Markovitch
Hope you all enjoy this festive season!
MAYBE READ THIS BIT FIRST
It was love at first sight that I found this book in LABOUR AND WAIT TOKYO. It's a branch of a household store, LABOUR AND WAIT which has its flagship store in the UK.
On the cover, there is a man, plastic bag in hand, dressed gentlemanly, looking straight at the camera while standing in front of a building covered with graffiti. It appeared to me slightly odd. This cover jumped out to me and somehow drew me in, but it's hard to put my finger on why.
Martin Usborne is a photographer who lives in Hackney, East London. One day he found an old man, shuffling slowly into Hoxton Square, carrying a plastic bag, an oversized blazer slipping off his shoulders. He was so at odds with the crowd that Martin assumed he was lost or homeless. But, subsequently, it became clear that his preconceptions were wrong.
His name is Joseph Markovitch, who spent all his life in East London. This book contains some quotes by him displayed alongside images of him taken by Usborne. I would like to pick out some of the quotes and then write down my responses to them.
ON HOME
“I’ve never left England.”
“I’ve lived in East London all my life and that’s my home.”
Joseph lived in East London his entire life of 86 years. When I think of Japanese people, it’s fairly common for them to never move to another county, but if you have a partner, or if you change through different stages of life, you might consider moving to another city.
It wasn't revealed why he clung to East London so much, but surely he attained his core outlook on life because he chose that he wouldn’t change even though he had seen the transformation of the world through an altering age and culture.
ON RELATIONSHIPS
“I’ve never had a girlfriend.”
He never had a girlfriend for his health conditions and his family mattered. He told us “if I was married, I would have been domineered all my life by a girl.” as if justifying himself.
On this page, there is the following quote too;
“I’ve seen the horse and cart, I’ve seen the camera invented, I’ve seen the projector. I never starved, that’s the main thing.”
No matter how many new and useful things came in, he never starved. I presume his point is you might have to realise the importance of looking at the bigger picture, looking at positive aspects out of negative things.
ON MANNERS
“Money don't make you polite. "
"What makes you polite is that if you are brought up poor, and then you get rich, then you are polite because the suffering makes it like that."
One day, Joseph sees a smart man on a bus. The man jumps off the bus but leaves his briefcase behind. So, Joseph went after him and gave him back the briefcase, but the man didn’t say ‘thank you'. Based on this episode, it is clear that he valued politeness.
Any hardship, including money, always enhances us and makes us polite. In addition, we might have to be more aware of how much others are involved in our life.
ON GLOBALISATION
“If I went to the jungle and was very clever I would be a missionary and be a person that helps others. But, I'm not in a jungle, so I go to the library instead.”
Despite the fact that his body was always in East London, his mind was full of a vibrant imagination. He liked to go to the library to read books, which allowed him to travel all over the world through books.
Even though we aspire to something, it doesn't always live up to our expectations when we obtain it. Ironically enough, there is the possibility that you feel happier in some way when you can't get things, considering how easy it is to have access to almost anything nowadays.
ON REALITY
“You know when you see the news and you see a man in front of Big Ben? He’s not there. He’s in a studio. It’s all like that these days.”
“We’re always looking at the screen but it’s not really there.”
“With modern technology we shouldn’t be so busy.”
The latest technology has made our lives easier and more useful. However, it has led us to be “over-connected” and we have ended up being overwhelmed by an enormous amount of information.
You can see things on the internet, but it's all about just looking at the screen and admiring how high resolution they are. It made me realise I should go and see things first hand more often.
ON THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE
“The most important thing I own is my keys. And my bus pass. And my belt.”
When you get home, you can’t go in if you don’t have the key. You will have no way to get back home if you don’t have your bus pass. Then what if you don’t have your belt? Joseph says “They won’t let you on the bus if your trousers have fallen down.” The most important thing for him is going back home every day.
ON THE FUTURE
“They will make photographs that talk. You will look at a picture of me and you will hear me say: ‘Hello, I’m Joseph Markovitch’ and it will be me telling you about things. Imagine that!”
“Nothing much changes around here in the end.”
Although Joseph often mentioned the risk of technological advancement, rather than just making negative comments, he shows us his imagination and inspires us to explore the ideas. I'm just wondering how amazing it would be if I could hear him reading this book to me.
MAYBE READ THIS BIT LAST
On December 26th, 2013, Joseph Markovitch passed away, five days short of his 87th birthday. As Martin has been documenting Joseph's life by photographing him since 2007, he has learned a lot and has been inspired by him which led him into having an exhibition about Joseph, as well as establishing an independent publishing company ‘Hoxton mini press’ with his wife who he met some years later.
“See other people as they are“
Joseph had a quiet life but it was a very rich life. He didn’t travel around the world, but his intrinsic curiosity and imagination enabled him to travel a long way in his mind.
To meet a stranger with clear eyes, as he did on a daily basis, requires a level of openness, but it's something all of us should strive for.
“Live it while you can（生きられるうちに生きなさい）”
by Joseph Markovitch
Hope you all enjoy this festive season!
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