Noboyushi Araki, Tokyo Comedy, 2007

Gelatin silver print
125.4 x 101.6 cm (visible), 146 x 122 x 4 cm (framed)
Condition: Very good

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Noboyushi Araki (Japanese, b. 1940) is a photographer from Tokyo, Japan, known for his erotic and provocative photography that pose a striking contrast between ikebana flower arrangements and kinbaku bondage performances. He graduated from Chiba University in 1963 with a degree in photography and filmmaking, and began his career working in advertising at Dentsu. It was during this time that he started to refine the diaristic style which later became a defining feature of his works.

In 1971, Araki published Sentimental Journey, a personal photo diary of his honeymoon with his wife, Yoko. The project was followed by Winter Journey years later, an emotional record of her illness and death. This cycle of love, loss, and memory sits at the heart of his vast body of work. He has also documented the lives of himself and his friends through a mode of what he terms ‘I-photography’, exposing the minute details of the mundane. 

Not without criticism, Araki’s work has frequently faced accusations of exploitation and has been subject to censorship in both Japan and internationally. Yet his influence on contemporary photography is undeniable. Araki’s images, whether tender or confrontational, continue to challenge ideas between public and private, art and pornography, beauty and discomfort. He has produced over 500 photobooks, and his work has been featured in exhibitions in New York, Paris, and Amsterdam, among others.