Nobuyoshi Araki - Arakin Z - 1981

Arakin Z

Nobuyoshi Araki
Million Publishing/1981/Japanese/213*258*18

Araki Z is a collection of works by Nobuyoshi Araki, one of the leading photographers of post-war Japan. The 60s began with ‘Satchin’, for which Araki won the Taiyo Award; the 70s were marked by ‘Sentimental Journey’, which was born from an encounter with his beloved wife Yoko and could be said to mark the start of ‘Araki's personal photography’; the 80s saw the peak of his extreme depiction and ‘Eros’ in collaboration with the famous editor Akira Suei, and he also demonstrated his outstanding talent in the expression of images. In the 90s, following the death of Yoko, Araki Nobuyoshi began to depict more sentimental feelings through still lifes and landscapes, and has continued to explore various styles according to his own feelings and the mood of the times. In recent years, Araki has continued his creative activities despite suffering from sight problems in his right eye, and he continues to publish exhibitions and photo collections. This book is a collection of bondage photographs, a play on the nutritional drink Argin-Z, which was on sale at the time. It is a compilation of the ‘bondage photographs’ that had been serialised since 1979 in the magazine S&M Sniper, and can be regarded as the starting point of Araki's bondage photography, including ‘Natsuko's Summer’, in which Araki shot bondage for the first time.