Signed, Nobuyoshi Araki - I headed south - 1999

I headed south

Signed, Nobuyoshi Araki
Shinchosha/1999/Japanese/158*208*23

Nobuyoshi Araki, one of Japan's leading photographers, and Yasushi Machida, who debuted with the punk band INU and later became a writer, winning the Akutagawa Prize, collaborate on the book ‘I'm Heading South’. This book features Araki's first major photo shoot in Osaka since his 1992 collection “The City in Primary Colors,” with Machida—who also served as a subject—writing a novel based on those photographs. The composition interweaves seemingly candid snaps and nudes between the novel's chapters. Since Araki and Machida themselves appear in the snaps, the work blurs the lines between reality and fiction, creating a sense of derailment and intersection. From the obi: “Nobuyoshi Araki shot an intense new photo series starring Yasushi Machida wandering the streets of Osaka. Inspired by these photos, Yasushi Machida wrote a thrilling new novel. Images expand, stories intertwine. The ultimate collaboration of photography and fiction, a deep session between two geniuses of the photographic and literary worlds.”