Although he considers himself just a hobbyist, Kobe-based Jun Aihara has long been one of our favorite photographers. His moment-driven analog snapshots of immediate family make us feel right at home in his kitchen…or his bathroom. Reminiscent of a quirkier, more playful version of Sally Mann’s intimate at-home work, Jun embraces imperfection and the silly ephemeral occasions that build a recollection of family history. He takes on a journey through simple everyday happenings with a whimsical—almost accidental— style that feels like a we are watching a relatable sitcom. His images warm us with a smile, wishing we were one of his kids…or at least invited over to dinner sometime soon.
We caught up with Jun to learn more about the inner workings of his creative process, his legacy project, the importance of “what’s right in front of our faces,” and his hopes for the future. Below is an edited summary of our conversation.
尽管 Jun Aihara 认为自己只是一个业余爱好者，但他一直是我们最喜欢的摄影师之一。他所捕捉的家人瞬间画面鲜活得让我们仿佛就置身于他家的厨房或者浴室。让人不禁想到莎莉·曼恩 (Sally Mann) 那种更古怪、更有趣的家庭摄影，Jun 接纳各种不完美和滑稽的时刻并将其构建成自己的家族回忆史。他以一种异想天开的偶然性风格，讲述了一段简单的日常生活，感觉就像我们在看一部感同身受的情景剧。他的照片用微笑温暖着我们，真希望我们就是他的孩子之一……或者至少在不久的将来被邀请共进晚餐。
通过对 Jun 的采访，我们了解了更多关于他的创作过程，他的积存项目，“专注眼前之事”的重要性，以及他对未来的希望。以下是经过编辑整理的采访摘要。
To be honest, I’m not really a photographer. This is just a hobby for me. In the past, I found myself being inflexible about the way I saw things and I didn’t like that. I wanted to see more. I wanted to see the world from multiple, fresh viewpoints. I wanted to broaden my perspective on life and photography helps me do that. It helps me see differently and to notice more. It gives me the renewed perspective I’ve been looking for and at this point in my life. It is very important to me.
说实话，我算不上是一个真正的摄影师，这只是我的一个爱好。在过去，我发现自己看待事物的方式太僵化，我不喜欢这样。我想看到更多。我想从更多新鲜的角度去看这个世界。我想拓宽对生活的看法，而摄影可以帮助我做到了这一点。它让我以不同的方式看待问题，并注意到更多。在我生命的这个阶段，它给了我一个一直在寻找全新的视角，这对我很重要。
Photography is an essential part of my life. The medium is interesting because it allows me to look back to when my children were small. Memories of loving them unconditionally — even when we scold them — come flooding back to me in a vivid way; a normal memory just can’t convey this richness. Having images to trigger your memory brings you a unique experience.
摄影是我生活中必不可少的一部分。这种媒介很有趣，因为它可以让我回顾孩子的童年。那些对他们无条件地爱的记忆——即使是我们训斥他们的那些时刻——也会像潮水般生动地涌上我的脑海;正常的记忆根本无法传达出这种丰满的情绪。用影像来触发你的记忆会给你带来独特的体验。
I want my work to preserve my family memories and my children’s childhood. This is what I want burned into the film negatives for history’s sake. The image negatives are my legacy project. It’s how I communicate with my family now, and in the future. Without these photos as prompts for us, we would likely forget most of the past. The richness of the memories would be lost. I’m not so sure what my family thinks of these photos, but my sincere hope is that in the future they will look back and enjoy them for years to come.
我希望我的作品能保留我的家庭记忆和孩子们的童年。从长远的角度来说这就是我想要印在底片上的东西。底片是我的积存项目。这是我在现在和将来与家人沟通的方式。如果没有这些照片作为提醒，我们可能会忘记大部分的过去。丰富的记忆将会丢失。我不太确定我的家人对这些照片的看法，但我真诚地希望，在未来的岁月里，他们也会回顾并享受它们
Shin Noguchi is a photographer who has had a tremendous influence on me. Before I met Shin, my photos were city snaps and street photography that I shot on my days off and while going to-and-from work. Places and scenes I didn’t know or have any connection to. They were uninteresting and a bit vapid to me. Even though this wasn’t the the kind of photography I wanted to create, I now think it was a necessary part of the creative process to get me to where I am now.
Ever-since Shin once told me, “focus on what’s right in front of you” and that “extraordinary moments exist in all of our daily lives,” my photos changed dramatically for the better. These two photos (above and below) are very meaningful to me because they made me realize that I too have these moments in my life with my family. There are so many happy, beautiful moments in everyday life worth documenting.
I am very lucky to have Shin in my life as a mentor. His photographs have touched my soul and have inspired me to create photos I love and cherish.
Shin Noguchi 是一位对我影响深远的摄影师。在我遇到Shin之前，我的照片就是在休息日和上下班途中拍摄的城市景象和街拍。只是些我不知道的地方和场景之间也没有任何的关联。对我来说，它们既无趣又乏味。尽管这不是我想要创作的那种摄影作品，但我现在认为这是创作中的必经过程，才让我走到现在。
自从有次 Shin 告诉我，“专注眼前之事”，以及“我们日常生活中存在着大量不一般时刻”，我的照片就发生了巨大的变化，变得更好。这两张照片(上面和下面)对我来说非常有意义，因为它们让我意识到我和家人在生活中也有这样的时刻。日常生活中有那么多欢乐、美好的时刻值得被记录下来。
我很幸运有 Shin 这样一位导师出现在我的生命中。他的照片触动了我的心灵，激发了我的创作出自己喜欢和珍惜的照片。
There are a couple of other photographers who have inspired me:
Yusuke Takayama works on Iriomote Island to conserve the indigenous wild cats there, among other things. I don’t even like bugs, but for some reason I can look at his photos of insects and other creatures in wonder and amazement for hours.
Greg Girard’s photos from the 1970s and 1980s are incredible. I love them so much. He’s one of the reasons why I shoot on film.
还有其他几位摄影师也给了我灵感:
Yusuke Takayama 在 Iriomote 岛工作，他专门保护当地的野生猫科动物。我甚至不喜欢虫子，但出于某种原因，我可以既惊叹又惊奇的盯着他的昆虫和其他生物的照片好几个小时。
Greg Girard 在20世纪70年代和80年代拍摄的照片令人难以置信。我特别迷他们。他也是我拍胶片的原因之一。
In terms of equipment, I shoot a lot of film (mainly Portra400 and occasionally Trix400) on a Konica C35. I also shoot digital on a Fuji X100F and my iPhone. I don’t develop my own film. I’ve got a shop I rely on for that, but I do the scanning and editing (digitization) of the negatives myself. I can’t share much about my editing method. That’s a secret.
在设备方面，我用 Konica C35 拍摄了很多胶片(主要是 Portra400，偶尔也用 Trix400)。我也用富士 X100F 和 iPhone 拍摄数码照片。我不会自己冲洗胶卷。但我有一家一直光顾的冲印店，不过我会自己做扫描和编辑(数字化)的底片。关于我的编辑方法，我不想分享太多。这是个秘密。
My next project is to focus on printing. I would like to print my photos in A2 size and display around my house. Printing at that size or bigger brings real power to an image. I crave this kind of printing and it’s how I prefer to collect others’ work. I want that for my images too.
I also want to make a website, but I just don’t have time for that…
我的下一个项目是专注于打印。我想把我的照片打印成A2尺寸，在家里的各处展示出来。大尺寸或更大尺寸的打印会给图像带来真正的冲击感。我对这种打印充满期待，这也是我收集我喜爱的别人作品的方式。希望我的照片也能被如此对待。
我也想做一个网站，但我似乎并没有更多的时间……
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Contributor: Adam J. Schokora
