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REFLEX EDITIONS AMSTERDAM
Nobuyoshi Araki: It Was Once a Paradise
Text by Marcel Feil, Robbert Roos.
Arguably Japan’s greatest living photographer and the author of over 425 books to date, Nobuyoshi Araki (born 1940) is internationally known for his erotic images of tied-up, beautiful nude women. It Was Once a Paradise presents Araki’s most recent photographic series, 40 diptychs that offer a meditation on sex and grief. Each diptych couples a new color photograph of a semi-nude woman in bondage with a black-and-white still life from his personal diary, a somber image taken on his Tokyo balcony: the site of his former private paradise haunted by his deceased wife Yoko and his cat Chiro. Nostalgic ruins contrast with erotic hope, forming a contrast that is echoed in the packaging of the book, which has been designed to be read in either direction, and comes with a choice of two different dust jackets.
Featured image is reproduced from Nobuyoshi Araki: It Was Once a Paradise.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Conscientious Photography Magazine
Joerg Colberg
There are quite a few extremely beautiful images in this book, and some of the pairings are amazingly smart. On top of that, It Was Once A Paradise is an incredibly lush production, a beautiful object on its own.
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.75 x 13.75 in. / 100 pgs / 41 color / 46 tritone/ Ltd Ed of 750 copies. LIST PRICE: U.S. $110.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $130 ISBN: 9789071848124 PUBLISHER: Reflex Editions Amsterdam AVAILABLE: 8/31/2012 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Reflex Editions Amsterdam. Text by Marcel Feil, Robbert Roos.
Arguably Japan’s greatest living photographer and the author of over 425 books to date, Nobuyoshi Araki (born 1940) is internationally known for his erotic images of tied-up, beautiful nude women. It Was Once a Paradise presents Araki’s most recent photographic series, 40 diptychs that offer a meditation on sex and grief. Each diptych couples a new color photograph of a semi-nude woman in bondage with a black-and-white still life from his personal diary, a somber image taken on his Tokyo balcony: the site of his former private paradise haunted by his deceased wife Yoko and his cat Chiro. Nostalgic ruins contrast with erotic hope, forming a contrast that is echoed in the packaging of the book, which has been designed to be read in either direction, and comes with a choice of two different dust jackets.
