Our 2nd Four + 1 is Mutsuaki Kawamori, my dear friend who is plying his trade in Madrid, Spain. He’s the one person that I know who’s been to more Classico than Matt’s been to a decent bowl game. :) His professionalism is something I truly admire and he really loves the game of football. He also has the skill to sleep under any condition.

You can find his work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutsufotografia/

1. How did you start shooting sports photography and what is your bread and butter sport?

When I was a businessman in Japan, I loved watching sports. Little by little, my desire to get more involved in sports grew and I decided to follow my heart. My logical conclusion was to start shooting sports.

If you mean by shooting a sports without too much stress then it will be football (soccer). This is because I used to play the sport and living in Madrid, Spain I have a lot of chance to shoot it. But in the future I would like to try shooting other sports.

1. スポーツ写真を撮り始めたきっかけは？　得意とするスポーツは？

会社員（全く写真やスポーツの現場からは縁遠い職業です）の頃から、サッカー以外も含めて色々とスポーツを観に行っていましたが、徐々にその現場に一歩踏み込んでみたいと考るようになりました。自分の欲求に従って、より現場に近い場所で、と考えた時、それなら写 真だろう、ということで。

ストレスなく撮影出来ることを「得意」と表現するのなら、元々サッカーをやっていたのと、現在撮影の機会が最も多いので、サッカーが一番撮影していてストレスがありません。でも、もう少し他の競技へも幅を拡げたいです。

2. What is something that you think is really obvious now that took you a long time to get?

Can’t think of anything off the bat. Even now, things often don’t really go according to my plans…

２。今は考えずに出来るが、スポーツ写真を撮り始めた頃、上手くいかなかったものや、苦労したことは？

ちょっと考え付かないです、今でも上手く行かない事が多々あるので・・・。

3.Funniest / Strangest story from one of your shoots?

Probably not funny, but rather something that annoys me a bit. For some reason, when the weather is bad at the beginning of the match, it tends to get worse throughout the match for me. The sad thing is that at the end of these matches, the weather fully recovers. I don’t think I bring bad weather wherever I go, but I’m jealous of people who can bring good weather to places.

3.撮影＆取材中に、最近あった笑える出来事、もしくは少し変わった話があれば、教えてください！

よくよく考えるとあまり笑えないのですが、天候の悪い日の撮影で、試合開始とともに天候が崩れ、試合終了とともに回復する、ということがよくあります。決して雨男、というわけではないのですが。晴れ男としか思えない人もいらっしゃるので、それは素直に羨ましいです。

4. Advices to the kids (or a mid life crisis sufferer) who are aspiring to become a sports photographer?

Being a freelance and not having done this for a long time, I don’t think I’m in a position to give advices to others.

This is a reminder for me as well to others. With the advancement in technology, there is a shift away from “capturing the moment” in photojournalism. This is something we should watch out going forward.

4. これからスポーツ写真を撮りたいと思っている人達にアドバイスを一言。

いまだ実績に乏しいし、ましてフリーの身なので、他の方にアドバイスなんて述べる事は出来ません・・・。

この職業で生計をたてなければいけないという方以外へ、そしてこれは自分への戒めとしてもいえますが、機材の進歩に伴って（恩恵は勿論多大ですが）、特に報道の現場では、「一瞬を切り取る」という、写真の本質から外れる部分が出てきているようにも思えます。その点に留意はした方がいいかなと。

+1 Real Madrid and Barcelona, which team would you rather shoot?

Neither. The one that scores on my end, the one that celebrates towards me, the one that gives me more opportunities to shoot, that is the side I would rather shoot. I can’t survive on ideals alone, you have to be practical.

+1 レアルとバルサ、撮るならどっち？

どちらというのはありません。私のサイドでゴールを決めてくれる、私の方に向かって喜 んで来る、私により多く撮影の瞬間を与えてくれる、それがわたしの「撮りたい」方、私にとっての「良い」チームです。私は仙人のように霞を喰って生きている訳ではないので、そこは現実的に考えます。

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