Nobuyoshi Araki - The First Year of HEISEI - 1990

The First Year of HEISEI

Nobuyoshi Araki
IPC/1990/Japanese/190*260*15

The First Year of HEISEI" is a collection of photographs by Nobuyoshi Araki, a leading Japanese photographer known by the nickname "Araki. Influenced by his father, a clog maker and amateur photographer, Araki began his photographic career in the 1970s, producing sensational works such as "Oh Japan" and "Sentimental Journey" that are still talked about to this day. His outstanding, sometimes extreme nudes and humanistic snaps have captivated photography fans around the world. This book, published in 1990, is a collection of photographs taken during the year 1989. Starting from January 7, the day of the Emperor Showa's death, the book includes balconies, his beloved cat Chiro, Yoko in her later years, who would be hospitalized at Tokyo Women's Medical University, street corner snaps and portraits of very famous people (Julie, Yayoi Kusama, Kenji Nakagami, Daido Moriyama and Takuma Nakahira ......), etc. . The lack of female nudity may be a reflection of Araki's emotional state during this period, but the casual street scenes and other scenes have a very sentimental resonance. This is a record of the first year of the Heisei era, from the death of Emperor Showa to the death of his wife Yoko, a period that seems to be a special year for Araki.