Seen: “Photographoary: Photo-Mad Old Man A Turning 77 on 5.25.17”
Who: Nobuyoshi Araki
Where: Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film
When: May 25 - July 1, 2017 / 11:00 - 7pm / closed Sundays, Mondays, National Holidays
Araki’s Summer of 77 kicks off with his annual birthday exhibition at Taka Ishii gallery in Roppongi- visitors are treated to nearly 900 recent photographs- - some 720 monochrome 5x7 prints and another 116 large color photographs are hung in tight rows on the walls. His subject matter has shifted over the years- apparently his health keeps him on a different kind of schedule- pills and an early bedtime(1) makes for an entirely different nightlife than he enjoyed in the 1980′s. Yet his same piercing line of vision remains. Ties to time- something which all photographs are essentially based on, are evident in his pictures. His world of meals, aging friends, decaying rubber monsters, dying flowers, his erotic middle-aged housewives and even his battered Leica all denote the passage of time and aging. The contrast of the messy deep red of freshly pissed blood against the white porcelain of a toilet adds a dark exclamation point to the spectacle.
And still, he’s not done yet. I’ve always said that the best Araki is more Araki- - and this summer Tokyo will see several more major exhibitions of the photographer’s work- a show in June at Shinjuku’s epsite gallery, then “Tombeau Tokyo” exhibited in Japan for the first time in Ginza- - which will be followed by “Photo-Crazy A” , an exhibition with over 1000 new prints that will be up at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. The grand finale will be an ode to his wife Yoko with “Sentimental Journey 1971-2017″, his first solo show at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
Summer of 77.
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Note: The B/W prints in this show were from Kodak Tri-X 400 through his Pentax MZ-S, while the color work was shot on Provia 100F through his champagne-gold Fuji GA645zi (Expect used prices to jump on this model.) The prints though– Fujifilm RP-Pro Crystal prints are jaw-droppingly beautiful. They have a luminescence and clarity that you have to see (only in person) to believe.
Sources:
(1) SWITCH magazine, September 2016 issue. Page 54
(2) Asahi Camera, June 2006 issue. Page 30