Nobuyoshi Araki- the bondage king

Nobuyoshi Araki is a japanese-american photographer and contemporary artist. His photographic works are dripping with  heavy erotocism and have often been referred to as pornographic. These images (which are his best known work) include geishas and other japanese women engaging in bondage and torture. Underneath these overtly sexual explicit nudes a context is created that plays with sex and death. Araki was pivital in the evolution of the photobook and in 1971 released Senchimentaru na tabi (which means Sentimental journey) in which he thoroughly documents his wedding and honeymoon in the form of a diary. By 2005 Araki had produced over 350 photobooks. Araki conceptualized the word Erotos stemming from ‘Erotos’.combining eros (love) and thanatos (death),  which are the two major themes in he practice. Below i have posted a short video, his cool exterior and sure genius is apparent.

I am mostly drawn to his 90's black and white images, althought he has some color images that i find striking.Many of his images seem ernest in the narrative but in fact are staged which i find enticing.