Nobuyoshi Araki, one of Japan’s most renowned photographers, and perhaps the most controversial, is recognised internationally for his prolific output and the erotic content of his photographs, which blur the lines between art and pornography. Araki is known worldwide for his photographs of women bound according to the ancestral rules of Kinbaku – the Japanese art of bondage – a practice dating back to the 15th century.
Although not all of Araki’s images are sexually charged, his monumental oeuvre also depicts the photographer’s own life and the day-to-day intricacies of existence. Araki has divided opinion but his artistic genius is undeniable; every image reveals extreme technical mastery and his influence penetrates many creative fields, including photography, film and fashion. This is the second time Hamiltons has presented Araki’s work in a solo exhibition. In 2008 Hamiltons presented Bokuju Kitan / Marvellous Tales of Black Ink. This exhibition included a selection of Araki’s more recent work.
Rarely associated with artistic motivation, bondage is traditionally used in pornographic works. Since 1979 however, Araki has depicted the theme of Kinbaku through a creative lens, interpreting this provocative subject matter with imaginative artistry. Araki’s obsession with women began at a young age, seeing women as possessing “all the charms of life itself… I tie women’s bodies up because I know their souls can’t be tied. Only the physical self can be tied. Putting a rope around a woman is like putting an arm around her.” Araki’s works, undoubtedly thought provoking, evolve in a poetic dimension, much like Helmut Newton who also addressed subversive themes.
‘For me, woman is photography… A photographer who doesn’t take photos of women is no photographer, or only a third-rate one… women teach you how the world goes around.’ (Araki)
The theme of eros, the Greek word for desire and passion, is a constant theme in Araki’s work, from his explicit images of women through to more nuanced images of flowers. Flowers are often either the subject of or in the background of Araki’s photographs. In keeping with the photographer’s ever-prevalent theme of eroticism and women, the flowers often represent female genitalia. “In woman, there is the bud and the flower… The flowers are genital.” Flowers in Ruins, one of Araki’s photo books, is dedicated in its entirety to flowers and Erotos features images of decaying flowers and rotting fruit juxtaposed with close-ups of body parts. Araki’s flowers also serve to present the ephemeral nature of life, a reminder of the photographer’s background. According to Araki, “Everything is determined by the place you were brought up.” Born in Tokyo in 1940, Araki grew up in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan. Just as the bombings continued to affect Japan over the coming years, so too did they continue to affect Araki, permeating his photographs of every-day life.
Nobuyoshi Araki, Photo-Mad Old Man 76th Birthday, 2016 © Nobuyoshi Araki
