in case you already know araki’s work, you can tell that terry richardson built his career on it and turned it mainstream. he actually even borrowed the old master’s strategy of getting naked if the model is naked, for better synergy.
in case you live under a rock: araki is probably the most famous japanese photographer. he prefers to take erotic pictures of women, often tied up in kinbaku, the intricate art of japanese bondage. this unconditional tokyoite published around 500 books and, although he is often put down for his edo-era attitude towards women, he declares that beautiful or ugly, women are attractive to him.
i will illustrate the post with my favourite picture (facebook made me take it down) and with a behind the scenes video of araki taking pictures of japanese young tastemakers in this season’s fashions, including model-actress kiko mizuhara in a mix of balenciaga and her own clothes, triathlete jessica michibata in lanvin and concept band the plasticzooms in raf simons for jil sander. the photo shoot was for the second issue of reality show, a tokyo-based style magazine.
(the video is no longer available)
in order to find out more about this larger than life character, i recommend an interview here and the arakimentari. enjoy!
9 comments
pornispure says:
Jul 20, 2011
http://youtu.be/EoA0_o-PZk4
little-aesthete says:
Jul 20, 2011
total araki homage 🙂
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PLASTICZOOMS ARE A VERY COOL POST-PUNK BAND FROM JAPAN « little-aesthete's Blog says:
Nov 5, 2012
[…] i discovered plasticzooms sometime last year, in the video produced by the reality show: they were one of the japanese style innovators photographed by living legend araki. […]
PLASTICZOOMS ARE A VERY COOL POST-PUNK BAND FROM JAPAN | little aesthete's blog says:
Jan 3, 2013
[…] PLASTICZOOMS ARE A VERY COOL POST-PUNK BAND FROM JAPAN by little aesthete on Nov 5, 2012 • 10:16 am 2 Comments i discovered plasticzooms sometime last year, in the video produced by the reality show: they were one of the japanese style innovators photographed by living legend araki. […]
Oana Avornicesei says:
Jan 21, 2013
It strikes me that the man in the photo looks like a gargoyle figure. No disrespect whatseoever intended. I don’t see it any less than art for it. (even if my imagination seems to have run away with me…)
I agree with the woman in the video: it does make sense in terms of photography, just as “Ai no corrida” makes sense in terms of cinema as art.
little aesthete says:
Jan 22, 2013
we could start a long talk about the place of women in japanese society and yakuza and power games, etc. i will just say this: i love that pic! 🙂
Oana Avornicesei says:
Dec 14, 2013
Let me revisit that pic, which I too love, irrespective of discussions on any Japanese topics in a Japanese (cultural) context. It captures/shows one of those instances when THE human body is the male body, and when the beauty of the body is masculine. The much praised beauty of the woman is non-existent here. What dominates the picture is the man (tatoos don’t really matter). But then the idea is as old as the ancient Greeks.
little aesthete says:
Dec 14, 2013
in the japanese context, the body tattoos do matter 🙂