ARAKI Photobook at Used Book Store

Last week me and my girlfriend went to a used book store to pass the time. As we were about to leave in a glass display where they hold more expensive used books, I saw the large edition of ARAKI published by TASCHEN for $44.99. A new edition is currently valued over $150.

The library that I went to back in the day had the smaller edition and pretty sure I would see the same photos in the large edition. I was so tempted to buy it because I have sheves upon shelves of fiction novels, and have 3-4 photobooks only. A photographer should have an accessible library of the greatest photographers on your shelf.

I left the bookstore emptyhanded but that photobook still lingered in my head.

For two days that book kept popping up in my head. I felt if anyone were to get that book, it should be someone who really appreciates photography, both taking photographs and as a student of the craft.

Two days later. I bought it.

Nobuyoshi Araki. Contemporaries with Daido Moriyama. I feel like he could be friends with Henry Miller and Charles Bukowski.

His work borders between photography and pornography and many times tipping on the latter.

As crazy and dirty he is, Araki is an important part of modern Japanese photography.

He has some street photographs but he’s mostly known for his “portraits” of nude women and putting toy animal and dinosaur figures in his photos.

Araki is one of those artists that goes to the very extremes of artistic expression.

But he knows his stuff. Looks at the lighting and the composition. Crazy as he is, he is a master of the craft.

There’s still some things I want to learn about him. Why did women want to be in front of his camera in these erotic poses. Even women of the new generation wanted to work with him.