Nobuyoshi Araki

A subversive Japanese photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki was born in Tokyo in 1940.

He studied at the Chiba University and graduated in 1963 as an engineer specializing in stage direction for the cinema. His career as a photographer began at the Dentsu Advertising Agency, and then he dedicated himself to artistic murals since 1965.

His name, Araki, sounds like a call to anarchy. Due to this, the artist plays around with the spelling of the word; he uses a 'K' to suggest this. His photos are immersed in the world of media and Japanese culture. Colored or black and white, the artist captures the essence of Tokyo through all its angles.

He takes pictures of every moment and object, he is considered as one of the most prolific contemporary artists. His pictures are mainly published under the form of albums, more than 350 make up a phenomenal collection, where each one is aesthetically pleasing, and play around with formats and covers.

In 1971, Araki married writer Aoki Yoko, who is just as brazen and cheeky as her husband. They make up an impetuous and extremely creative couple. After their honeymoon, Araki published a series of photos, depicting this event between fiction and reporting; he called it "Emotional Trip". These images initiated Araki's career. In his 1990s "A Winter Trip", the artist immortalized the last days of Yoko, who was suffering from Uterus cancer. A deeply moving and controversial series, given the extent of intimacy towards death which is depicted by Araki. The artist may have overrun the government, it's mostly due to his erotic photos where the pubic hair are shown. Desire fascinates him, women capture him and he is able to crystallize his passion on glazed paper.

He has created several nude picture through the art of Kinbaku, an ancient Japanese art. In this practice, one has to tie up the person with a game of sophisticated knots, mistakenly seen as bandage. His model's bodies are portrayed under evocative positions, but the faces of the women remain stoic and aren't enraptured.