Nobuyoshi Araki
Possibly the greatest Japanese photographer and one of the most prolific ones, Nobuyoshi Araki was born in Tokyo, 1940. After studying photography and film making at Chiba University, at the age of 24 he received his first recognition, the Taiyo Award for “Satchin”. In 1971, he married with Yoko Aoki and privately published “Sentimental Journey, consisting of the photographs taken during the honeymoon.
His work and achievements were immediately recognisable in worldwide exhibitions, such as “Tokyo Comedy”, Wiener Secession, Vienna, 1997; “Sentimental photography, Sentimental Life”, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 1999; “Araki: Self, Life, Death", Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2005; “Araki”, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris, 2016; “Sentimental Journey 1971-2017”, Tokyo Photography Museum, 2017; “Impossible love - Vintage Photographs”, C/O, Berlin, 2018; “Flower Ghost”, The Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, 2018; “Araki”, Albertina Museum, Vienna, 2021 and many others. He collaborated with the magazine New Self and produced his film in 1981.
Over 550 publications translated in all languages illustrate the breadth of his interests. His subjects are wide-ranging from pictures of his wife Yoko, to lifestyle, a photo-novel, Tokyo landscapes, his nude and bondage artistic photography, nature, portraiture and photo-painting, Polaroids and Paradise – his latest series…all of them based upon his consistent idea, I-Photography. Among the numerous prizes and awards, in 2008 he also received the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art.
Constantly immortalising the world, ‘just like breathing’, Araki continues to generate an incredible body of work to produce solo exhibitions every three months. Against the odds, his concepts remain always innovative and driven by an intrinsically avant-garde spirit.
His work and achievements were immediately recognisable in worldwide exhibitions, such as “Tokyo Comedy”, Wiener Secession, Vienna, 1997; “Sentimental photography, Sentimental Life”, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 1999; “Araki: Self, Life, Death", Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2005; “Araki”, Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, Paris, 2016; “Sentimental Journey 1971-2017”, Tokyo Photography Museum, 2017; “Impossible love - Vintage Photographs”, C/O, Berlin, 2018; “Flower Ghost”, The Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, 2018; “Araki”, Albertina Museum, Vienna, 2021 and many others. He collaborated with the magazine New Self and produced his film in 1981.
Over 550 publications translated in all languages illustrate the breadth of his interests. His subjects are wide-ranging from pictures of his wife Yoko, to lifestyle, a photo-novel, Tokyo landscapes, his nude and bondage artistic photography, nature, portraiture and photo-painting, Polaroids and Paradise – his latest series…all of them based upon his consistent idea, I-Photography. Among the numerous prizes and awards, in 2008 he also received the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art.
Constantly immortalising the world, ‘just like breathing’, Araki continues to generate an incredible body of work to produce solo exhibitions every three months. Against the odds, his concepts remain always innovative and driven by an intrinsically avant-garde spirit.
Former judges
Duane Michals
Fritz Gottschalk
Gerald Scarfe
Henry Steiner
Maciej Hibner
Nobuyoshi Araki
Seymour Chwast
Tom Geismar
William Klein
Fritz Gottschalk
Gerald Scarfe
Henry Steiner
Maciej Hibner
Nobuyoshi Araki
Seymour Chwast
Tom Geismar
William Klein