Araki’s Ricoh GR1s
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In a world full of rules and regulations, it is sometimes comforting to know that there will always be some people, somewhere, who will gladly and willingly break those rules.
Whether these people are loved or hated by us all is immaterial, especially to them. They do not give a damn who loves them or who hates them; theirs is a world apart, free from the collective confusion of society, of which we are all part.
We talked about Daido Moriyama recently, whose work is world famous now.
Let us leave Daido Moriyama, and look at another gentleman, of the same country, whose work is totally different.
That gentleman goes by the name of Nobuyoshi Araki.
Just as we in the west had Andy Warhol, the east brings us Nobuyoshi Araki, one of the most controversial artists in Japan.
Some say his work is nothing but obscene, pornographic and shocking, whereas others are full of praise for it. Be that as it may, Nobuyoshi brings to photography a new, an unusual bent, a glimpse into our hidden feelings or personas.
Nobuyoshi Araki (I’m gonna call him NA from now on!!) was born in 1940, and studied to university level, leaving with a degree in cinema and photography. He soon settled into a regular job as an advertising photographer, but found that he could earn almost the same money, or maybe a little less but adequate sum, doing his own work in his own time.
Working on his own must have suited him really well, for who amongst us doesn’t wish to break free of the continuous onslaught of drudgery and repetition, which society has us believe is the necessary way of living?
After work, NA walked around his home town, and seeing a world that was never depicted in life, decided then and there to do it himself.
His shots have included such diverse subjects as nature, sex, prostitution, pornography, industry and much more. Indeed, NA is no newcomer to controversy; his work was halted from publication by the police in 1988 as his risque photographs were deemed too obscene. Following this, he was again charged with obscenity in 1992 for his work and paid a relatively large fine.
Nevertheless, he continued unabashed and has to date published hundreds of books, most of them unknown in the western world.
He cuts a rather dandy figure sometimes, strolling around Tokyo; other times he seems to ooze a very boyish personality, full of naughtiness and joy. With his balding head, hair on the sides gelled and combed upwards to look like 2 devilish horns, dark, round glasses, his appearance appears highly comical, and possibly it is this that allows him to get away taking such personal shots with his camera.
And he is known to have a very, shall we say, “full” vocabulary of bad language, which he uses with gay abandon whenever he is asked to answer questions about his work by journalists. And of course, he is always full of that very special energy with which he is endowed; he refuses to sit still for more than a few seconds at a time when talking!
So, in short; what is he aiming to portray in his work? To me, and this is my own opinion, it seems he uses sex, deprivation, violence and death to turn our attention the these things which are part of everyday life, which are happening as you read this text, but which we sometimes refuse to acknowledge. NA brings it all up and pushes it into our faces, forcing us to look.
What cameras does he use? At the time of writing this, I ahve been able to find very few references to cameras NA uses; to him, it’s no big deal what camera he uses; all cameras are tools, he says. And this much is also known; he hardly ever uses a digital camera, is a constantly busy man, with 2 assistants and more than half a dozen cameras ready to use.
His shooting is pheniminal; he professes to taking around 1 shot every 3 mins, and as soon as a film is used up in one camera, he picks up the next one, even taking shots of his own food before eating it, as some kind of surreal diary of his life by the minute. However, he does admit to using a Mamiya 711, Leica M7, a Ricoh GR1s and numerous small point and shoot cameras that imprint date on the photos, and the veritable Lomo, a simple plastic camera whose importance has been blown out of all proportion by a Company wanting to make big money as speedily as possible (more about this at a later date!).
Finally, I apologise for not posting any of his controversial shots here; I did not want to upset my readers, who may well be offended; suffice to say his work is freely available to view on the web!
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