Exhibition Review: Nobuyoshi Araki: Shi Nikki (Private Diary) for Robert Frank
© Nobuyoshi Araki
Written by Emily Capone
Edited by Jana Massoud
It may be said that loss is the undesirable companion to love, and this is a sentiment which photographer Nobuyoshi Araki eloquently portrays in his anticipated exhibit, Shi Nikki (Private Diary) for Robert Frank (1993), part of the Pinault Collection, Bourse de Commerce, Paris. As a photographer who has created a name for himself in the world of Kinbaku (Japanese form of bondage), Araki pushes his craft into an even deeper realm with his collection of 101 black and white images, paying tribute to his now deceased wife Yoko, and the late Robert Frank.
© Nobuyoshi Araki
In a style similar to the that of Frank’s, Araki presents a glimpse into what he calls his “novel of the self” by transposing his photographs into a literary form of the famed Japanese “I-novel”. In this way, Araki pieces together images of the mundane with elements of love and loss: women sitting together openly in their lingerie, a random bright sky streaked with wispy clouds, or a solitary subject walking to (or from) work.
© Nobuyoshi Araki
While the topic of bondage is controversial, I find that Araki’s obsession with the often misunderstood and frowned upon fetish fully aligns with his new collection of work. In many ways, to fully understand love, one must understand boundaries, and Kinbaku is a practice of boundaries. In a 2018 interview concerning Kinbaku, a Japanese model who performed for a venue in NYC said of her craft, “…I think people find beauty from Kinbaku because eventually, the rope must be untied. It will not stay forever.” Araki reflects this rope in his photography: the ability to hold on to something physical (the body) and figurative – whether that is a certain trust, a type of love, or desire – while also being able to let go. And while this practice might not be fully accepted in society, Araki closes the gap between what is here (love) and what is lost, while paying homage to that reality.
As if in a trance of irresistible passion, Araki captures the subtle nature of humanity through images that are both haunting and beautiful. He masters the “snapshot aesthetic” which Robert Frank spurred forward in his own oeuvre. Just as Frank opposed the cinematic glamour of the American Dream aesthetic in his 1958 monolith, The Americans, Araki seeks to recreate the reality of life through a diary of images—a sentimental journey through Araki’s life with his wife, the truth in the love they shared, the emptiness after Yoko’s tragic death, and the reflection of this infinite cycle in Araki’s perception of the world around him.
© Nobuyoshi Araki
As with many literary works, the mundane in life is brought into the eye of viewer because there is purpose behind it, and Araki chooses to point his camera in the direction of these random moments, as if to let us into his own mind, one that suffers from loss but rejoices in the minute details that make life meaningful again. In his collection, Shi Nikki, Araki points his camera to true subject, the rope which tethers life and death, so that we may fully immerse ourselves in the true meaning of what it is to love, to lose, and to fall in love with life again. And the subject? While tethered to that which we love, it must eventually be “untied” and let go.
© Nobuyoshi Araki
Japanese artist, Nobuyoshi Araki (b. 1940) pays homage to his wife Yoko, who he says inspired him to become a photographer. An engineer by trade, Araki published “Sentimental Journey”, revealing his wedding and honeymoon in the form of a photographic diary, 1971. His works have inspired artists such as Sophe Calle and Roman Opalka.
To fully appreciate this understanding of love and loss, please visit Nobuyoshi Araki’s highly anticipated exhibit, Shi Nikki (Private Diary) for Robert Frank (1993), presented in Gallery 3 of the Bourse de Commerce, Paris until March 14, 2022.
