この前、後輩に「最近、よくポパイに出てくるあの男の子は、なんすかW？」と聞かれた。要するに、あれ、プロのモデルなんですか？と言いたかったのだと思う。写真の彼はマルタン。ただの高校生。後輩が言いたかったのは彼のこと。アシスタントの平野がハントしてきたシティボーイ。 最初は、髪はボサボサだし、ガキのくせにヒゲが中途ハンパに生えてるし、妙に派手な柄モノの服を着て、なんだかどうなのかな、と思っていた。でも、人も足りないから、とりあえずマガジンハウスに呼んで、フィッティングして、矢口君が髪を切って横分けにしてみたら、あれ？意外といいな、となった。そして撮ってみたら、なんだか異様な存在感を放っていて、一発OK。撮影は一瞬にして終わった。なんだか気になるその雰囲気。ぼくはこんな人に生まれて初めてあったかもしれない。YOU HAVE A TALENT FOR MODEL.そう言ったら、喜んでいた。ひょうきんでお調子者のマルタンは、みんなの人気者。いつも悪趣味な柄モノの服を着て撮影現場に現れる。たぶん、柄モノしか持っていないんだと思う。そんな彼のルックスから、見事に才能を見抜いてハントしたうちの平野は、天才かただの悪趣味か⁉︎ 帽子は、《コンティニュエ》のために作ったもの。夏の肌と黒髪にもオリーブドラブは、いい雰囲気。
My mate asked me, “who is that boy in Popeye?” He was basically asking whether or not the models were professionals. Well, this boy in the photo, Martin is a student. He is a city boy scouted on the street by my assistant, Hirano. I first thought what the heck. I mean, he had messy hair when he showed up, and even some beard that is weird for his age. His style was a bit off. (meaning he was dressed in peculiar patterned clothes.) But I used him anyway because we were short of models at the time. Yaguchi-kun has cut his hair and I have dressed him in some of my clothes. Voila, he was a whole new person! There was no retake needed for the shooting with him. He was natural. I was drawn into his mysterious being. I don’t think I ever met anyone as such. Martin seemed happy when I paid him a compliment, “YOU HAVE A TALENT FOR MODEL.” He’s always the center of attention for his happy and casual personality. But still, I just don’t get his wardrobe. It is and will always be a mystery to me. He may not have much choice, as those peculiar patterned clothes are only clothes he has. As far as modeling talent goes, Martin is perfect. Hirano might have an eye for the latent modeling talent in boys having to spot Martin out of the crowd. Anyway, for those who are curious where this hat in the photo is from, it is what I made for the optic gear store “Continuer”. The color, Olive Drab matches well with tanned skin and dark hair.
HAT（《AHA》X《COMESANDGOES》X《THE PARKSIDE ROOM》/THE PARKSIDE ROOM http://www.tpr.jp ）
GLASSES（THE PARKSIDE ROOM http://www.tpr.jp ）
Cotton T shirt ¥5,500(camber for High!standard/High!stansard http://www.hrm.co.jp ）
photo Seishi Shirakawa
Styling Akio Hasegawa
Grooming Kenichi Yaguchi
Edit Shigeru Nakagawa
