森康志『ハットリくんへ』

世界中の猫好きを魅了した『ハットリくん』出版から５年が経ち、2冊目の『ハットリくんへ』を出版いたします。写真家・森康志にも２人の子供たちが生まれて家族が増え、家族の日々の暮らしを撮影してきました。中心にはいつも猫のハットリくんが居ました。今回の写真集はハットリくんと子供たちの愛の物語です。

「わたしと猫のハットリくんが出会って10年が経った。
見た目にはそれほど変わりはないが、戯れてもすぐに疲れて寝てしまう姿には、ハットリくんの老いを感じてしまう。
ハットリくんの生まれ故郷である福島県双葉町は、今もなお原発事故の影響で立ち入ることはできない。
じっと窓の向こうを見つめる後ろ姿に、何か行き場のない気持ちを感じてしまうことがある。


ハットリくんは今日も外を眺め、瞳には窓に流れる景色が映っている。
夕日を映す青い瞳は寂しげで、美しく、そして何より愛しい。
わたしには、そんな愛しさを写真にすることしかできないが、
無垢な感情を子供たちは爆発させて、ハットリくんを抱きしめる真っ直ぐな姿に、わたしの行く宛のない感情はほんの少しだけ和らいだ。

わたしたちは、言葉を交わすことはできない。しかし、だからこそできる心の空白の様な部分に、
わたしの感情を往来させ、時には血を分けたはずの子供よりも鮮明に、ハットリくんの姿に自分自身を感じることがある。

思いがけない展開の人生は儚く、短い。
あっという間に流れては消えてしまう、喜びや寂しさ、溢れる感情。わたしは瞳に映り流されしまう愛しさを、写し続けたい。

森康志　」（テキストより抜粋）


Five years have passed since the publication of “Hey! Hattori’’, which captivated cat lovers around the world, and we are now publishing our second book, “Dear Hattori’'. Photographer Yasushi Mori's family has expanded with the birth of two children, and he has been photographing the daily lives of his family. There was always a cat, Hattori, in the center. This photo book is a love story between Hattori and his children.

"Ten years have passed since Hattori the cat and I came across each other.
He doesn't look much different now, but when I watch him playing and then see him getting tired and falling asleep sooner than he used to, I notice that he is getting old.
Hattori was born in Futaba Town in Fukushima Prefecture where people are still not allowed to go due to the effects of the nuclear power plant accident.
There are times when I look at Hattori from behind as he is gazing intently out the window and I am overwhelmed by feelings I am unable to properly express or release.

Hattori is looking out the window again today and things passing by are reflected in his eyes.
Those blue eyes reflecting the setting sun are lonely, beautiful, and, more than anything, very dear.
All I can do is capture his endearing form in photographs, but the emotions I feel that have nowhere to go are eased just a little by the sight of children picking up and holding Hattori out of the spontaneous and straightforward expression of their pure and innocent emotions.

Hattori and I are unable to talk to each other. But that is exactly why I can let the emotions I feel come and go in the part of my heart that is like an empty space. Once in a while, when I look at Hattori, I can see myself in him more clearly than I would in my own child.

Life with its unexpected twists and turns is fleeting and soon gone.
Joy and sorrow, overwhelming emotions flow through the heart and disappear in an instant. I want to continue capturing in photographs the dearness that eyes reflect and is left to drift away.

Yasushi Mori”（Excerpt from the text）

（出版社HPより引用）