© Naoki Ishikawa
SUMMIT OF MT. LHOTSE 17 MAY 2013
For the most part, I didn’t stop. I just aimed for the entrance of light that I could see beyond the couloir. Finally, I could see a rock clump that looked like the summit, and something orange near the middle of the rock. I thought that maybe it was an oxygen bottle left by a previous climber. Moving steadily closer to the summit, I realized that the orange color was not of some thing. It was a person. Seated on the rock, dangling his legs, and leaning the head to one side. When I realized that it was a dead body, I was shocked.
As callous as it might seem, the rope was set to the left of the body and extended to the summit. Joining my hands in front of the body, I told him, “Let me head to the top,” and then climbed the cliff.
There was snow near the summit. It is not a place for standing on two feet, and I arrived at the summit in a seated position. It was a little after 10am. It had only taken a little over 3 hours to make the full climb from C4. Seated atop the summit, I could see Everest to my right. I could see the Balcony, the South Summit, and the peak. Everest was more of an acute triangle than I would have imagined.That summit that I climbed two years ago – I could now see it from next door. My journey to know the Himalayas and Everest, was in this moment finally complete.
© Naoki Ishikawa
エベレストの南隣にある山ローツェ(8516m)。2011年5月、二度目のエベレスト登頂に成功したとき、目の前にずっと見えていた世界第4位の高峰が写真家・石川直樹の心を捉えました。「あの頂(いただき)からエベレストを眺めたら、どのように見えるのだろう?」その思いを胸に2013年春、石川はローツェに向かいます。天を突く急峻な山々、シェルパ族の村のおだやかな日常。エベレスト初登頂から10年、足を踏み入れるほどにヒマラヤは石川の興味を駆りたてました。
本展では、ローツェを中心に、石川が魅せられた厳しさと優しさを併せ持つヒマラヤを紹介します。
石川直樹 Lhotse
SLANT
2013.12.21 (sat)~ 2014.2.16 (sun)
12:00~19:00
石川県金沢市広坂1-2-32 2F
076-225-7746
White Mountaineering Flag Shop
2013.12.6 (fri)~ 12.15 (sun)
12:00~20:00
東京都渋谷区神宮前4-21-7 1F
03-6804-6309
http://www.whitemountaineering.com/
石川直樹/Naoki Ishikawa
1977年東京都生まれ。写真家。東京芸術大学大学院美術研究科博士後期課程修了。人類学、民俗学などの領域に関心を持ち、辺境から都市まであらゆる場所を旅しながら、作品を発表し続けている。『NEW DIMENSION』 (赤々舎)、『POLAR』(リトルモア)により、日本写真協会新人賞、講談社出版文化賞。『CORONA』(青土社)により 土門拳賞を受賞。著書に、開高健ノンフィクション賞を受賞した『最後の冒険家』(集英社)ほか多数。最近では、ヒマラヤの8000m峰に焦点をあてた写真集シリーズ『Lhotse』『Qomolangma』『Manaslu』『Makalu』(SLANT) を4 冊連続刊行中。最新刊に写真集『国東半島』『髪』(青土社)がある。
http://www.straightree.com/