Japanese follows English (英文の後に日本語)
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Since I felt some difficulty taking photographs in town because of poor security, the pasture and ranch surrounding my residence gradually became the main subject of my photography work. On a long day in summer, I always grabbed  Pentax Q/Q7 in my hand for jogging which is small and lightweight. I often never met anyone on the way for a few kilometres because it was a country road, while if I was lucky enough to meet farmers, I chat with them (by almost gesture only due to language issue though) and took pictures if I had a chance.

Incidentally, there was once a heinous terrorist attack in this country, though I do not think the viewer can imagine from this quiet scenery. It happened only two weeks after I arrived in this country.

Algeria was originally not a safe enough country for foreigners, and my company strictly restricted its employees from going out, and in principle, we were not allowed to go anywhere other than the designated places. For about two months after the crisis, we were just like house arrest, not being able to go outside the gate freely except for going to work. Of course, I could not even go out to the surrounding ranch shown.

These photographs were all taken after the house arrest. From the farmers' point of view, such a crisis has occurred in a distant world. They are ordinary people who work and survive normally.

街中では撮影がしにくく，また治安の懸念もあるため，次第に住まいの周囲に広がる牧場・農場を主な被写体にするようになった。日の長い夏場は毎日，小型軽量なPentax Q/Q7をジョギングのお供に連れ出すのが日課で，田舎ゆえ数キロの道のりで誰にも会わないことも多々あったが，運よく農民たちに出会えたら声をかけ，チャンスとみれば写真を撮らせてもらう毎日。

ちなみに，この長閑な光景からは想像できないと思うが，かつてこの国で凶悪なテロ事件があった。僕がこの国に着任して僅か2週間後のことだった。

元々治安の良い国とはお世辞にも言えず，外出を厳しく制限され，決められた場所以外に行くことは原則許されていなかったのだが，それに拍車をかけたのが上記の事件だ。事件後2か月あまりの間は仕事に行く以外，自由に門の外に出ることもできない軟禁状態が続いた。写真にある隣接する農場へももちろん出られなかった。

これらの写真はみな，軟禁が解かれてた後に撮ったものだ。そんな事件があったことなど，彼らにしてみれば遠い世界のことに違いない。彼らは普通に仕事し，暮らしている市井の人なのだ。