Nobuyoshi Araki is one of Japan’s most renowned and controversial contemporary photographers. Known for his provocative erotic themes, Araki also reflects various aspects of everyday life and Japanese culture through his lens. His photographs in the style of Kinbaku (Japanese bondage art) blend eroticism with aesthetics, while the dramatic tension in Araki’s visual language creates a dialogue between Eros and Thanatos. The artist has developed a form of I-Photography (shi-shashin), documenting his own life and the lives of those around him. This approach functions as a personal autobiography, displaying intimate details of Araki’s own existence. His work, rooted in traditional Japanese aesthetics, offers a perspective that challenges societal taboos and moral boundaries.
Nobuyoshi Araki was born in Tokyo in 1940. After completing his studies in photography and film at Chiba University, he worked as a commercial photographer for the Japanese advertising agency Dentsu. However, dissatisfied with the limitations placed on his creative freedom, he turned to full-time photography in 1972. The artist captured his personal life, moments with his wife, Tokyo cityscapes, and the art of Japanese bondage, as exemplified in his book Sentimental Journey (1971), which documents his honeymoon with sexually explicit photographs. Although his work has sometimes sparked moral controversy, Araki has maintained his resistance against censorship laws and public backlash in Japan. With over 500 photobooks published to date, Araki has held numerous retrospectives and solo exhibitions internationally.
Araki’s works are included in prominent collections such as Tate Modern, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. The artist received the Photographic Society of Japan Annual Award in 1990, the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Arts in 2008, and the 54th Mainichi Art Award in 2012. Despite being arrested multiple times in Japan for violating moral codes, Araki has maintained his fame and influence. The artist, whose body of work also includes films, has photographed musicians such as Lady Gaga and Björk. Araki has received several significant accolades, including the 1994 Japan Inter-Design Forum Grand Prix, the 1990 Society Photography Award, and the 1964 Sun Prize.
Selected exhibitions of Araki’s include Araki, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris (2016); Sentimental Journey 1971-2017, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo (2017); and Nobuyoshi Araki: Self, Life, Death, The Barbican Art Gallery, London (2005).
Nobuyoshi Araki lives and works in Tokyo.