On entering the exhibition on the museum’s second floor, the outspoken, incendiary side of Araki is in full view as one moves down a darkened hallway adorned with rope knots suggestive of kinbaku-bi (Japanese rope bondage art) to confront a lone spot-lit photograph of a suspended, bound kimono-clad woman with her legs splayed, her genitals barely covered by a flower. Conscious of their audience, the curators at the Museum of Sex are literally roping in the viewer’s attention with the most sensational work before slowly unfurling a more nuanced reading of Araki. Nobuyoshi Araki, KaoRi Love (Diptych), 2007 Zerokkusu Shashincho 1–25 = Xeroxed Photo Album 1–25. A series of books self-produced using a photocopier, published from 1970 onwards, each in an edition of 70 copies. [1] In addition to the quality of his work, Araki also insists on the value of the quantity of images he produces, reflecting his prolific work ethic. Whilst this can make his work difficult to quantify or accurately survey, the sheer volumes of photographs, videos, photobooks, and other material he produces has its own significance, reflecting the depth and centrality of his practice to his life. He suggests that, rather than individual works, it is the spread of images extending throughout his life that is significant, echoing the repeating and never-ending qualities of a Buddhist mandala. Frank, Priscilla (February 21, 2018). "Will Nobuyoshi Araki Be Photography's Last Legendary Dirty Old Man? (NSFW)". The Huffington Post.

a b c d Rich, Motoko (May 5, 2018). "When an Erotic Photographer's Muse Becomes His Critic". The New York Times . Retrieved May 6, 2018. Street Life & Home Stories.Photographs from the Goetz Collection - Sammlung Goetz". Goetz Collection. Archived from the original on 2018-03-02 . Retrieved 2018-03-02. While Araki's images of bondage are often criticized by Western audiences for perpetuating misogyny and the objectification/fetishization of women, some scholars argue that the images can only be properly understood if read through the cultural lens in which they were produced. For instance, curator Lou Proud sees such images by Araki as a "celebration of women". The artist himself says he wants to "free the women's souls" by tying up their bodies. Indeed, as in this photograph. the women in the images have calm, strong, controlled expression, and do not appear afraid, humiliated, or in pain. Commissioned by Italian luxury label Bottega Veneta, Araki photographed Saskia de Brauw and Sung Jin Park in Tokyo for the brand's spring/summer 2015 campaign. [16] Controversy [ edit ]

Artists A-Z::: Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main". Museum für Moderne Kunst. Archived from the original on 2018-03-02 . Retrieved 2018-03-02.

Araki is known for his intimate access to models. When asked about this in 2011, he bragged that he gained access through sex. [17] Photography for the Afterlife. Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2014. ISBN 978-4582278118. With an essay by Mario Perniola, "Araki's Hell". Araki has produced an extensive and extremely varied body of work (including over 500 photobooks), which has influenced subsequent photographers in nearly all genres, including street photography, documentary photography, portraiture, erotic photography, and more. According to curator Maggie Mustard, he influenced fashion photography in regard to "this aesthetic of the candid, the hip shot, the emphasis on the explicit." Arts and culture writer Alina Cohen notes that Araki's "aesthetic is instantly recognizable, whether he's capturing submissive, rope-bound women, grungy group sex in Tokyo, or eroticized flowers. [...] Over the years, Araki has become a brand." Arts editor Alice Nicolov praises his "innate technical mastery of image staging and colour."Araki's work has been legally controversial, with many of his images flaunting Japanese obscenity restrictions on the showing of pubic hair, for example. Despite public outcry, political condemnation, and police interventions, Araki refuses to modify his practice or desist from making his work. This defiance has consistently been positioned as a commentary on Japanese society and a challenge to the hypocrisy of censorship laws and other sexual repression. His practice therefore occupies a unique position where it is recognized as a vastly significant artistic export for contemporary Japan, but also a controversial and occasionally illegal body of work at odds with the establishment. Selvin, Claire (December 10, 2018). " 'Are You Sure Your Knowledge Is Correct?': Asian Women's Group Protests Photographer Nobuyoshi Araki in Berlin". ARTnews . Retrieved February 22, 2019. In October 2013, Araki lost vision in his right eye due to a retinal artery obstruction. The 74-year-old artist used the experience as an inspiration to exhibit Love on the left eye, held on 21 June 2014 at Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo. [15] In 1981, Araki directed High School Girl Fake Diary ( 女高生偽日記, Jokōsei nise nikki ), a roman porno film, for the studio Nikkatsu. [10] The film was a disappointment to Araki's fans and to fans of the pink film genre. [11] Japanese photography critic and historian Iizawa Kōtarō explains that "Sentimental Journey is structured like a shishōsetsu, or 'I-novel,' sometimes called a 'personal novel,' a Japanese literary form in which the first-person narrator delves deep into the intricacies of personal relationships. [...] The photographs in Sentimental Journey function as the text of an 'I-novel' might, delicately stitching together the story of the artist's relationship with a close other. He would later dub the technique shishashin, rendered in English as 'I-photography' or 'personal photography.' The form went on to become one of the important currents running through Japanese photographic expression." Araki himself asserted, "I believe it is the 'I-novel' that is the very closest artistic form to photography.