Nobuyoshi Araki - Sentimental Journey (Senchimentaru na Tabi, 荒木経惟 センチメンタルな旅), Shikaban, 1971, Tokyo
Softcover, edition of 1000 copies.
„By his own account this privately published work represents Araki's photographic position: Araki met his wife Aoki Yoko at Dentsu where she worked as a secretary. He married her on July 7th 1971 (an auspicious date) and the privately published work is a chronological account of their honeymoon. It seems that the act of the honeymoon itself was an occasion for nostalgia. Some of the images have a hazy quality to them, a feeling of oppressive heat, others are sharp and dark, a few feel like holiday-snaps of commemorative nature (kinen-shashin): Breakfast in a hotel-room in Kyoto decorated with the latest '70s wallpaper, views from the hotel-window, train-stations, photos of old wedding photos on a wall, gardens, a group of electrical massaging chairs, flower arrangements in a hallway, street-scenes, as well as the infamous sex-scenes with his wife, there is something singularly subdued (if not even unhappy) about the whole affair. And yet the narrative has a pull and the exposure of the most private of memories was Araki's very own attempt at 'honesty' in photography. A separately printed facsimile letter carries a text that seems to anticipate his resignation from Dentsu in the following year. “Dear Sir, I cannot stand it any longer. It has nothing to do with the constant diarrhoea that plagues me but rather with the fashion photographs that surround us. I simply cannot stand all those anonymous faces. All those naked bodies. All those private lives and scenes that are essentially a pack of lies.” The book caused a stir. Looking back at it in the 21st century it can be said to epitomise certain universal and essentially post-modern approaches to life“ (Titus Boeder, 4/07)
Pages: 106
Place: Tokyo
Year: 1971
Publisher: Shikaban
Size: 24 x 24 cm (approx.)
„By his own account this privately published work represents Araki's photographic position: Araki met his wife Aoki Yoko at Dentsu where she worked as a secretary. He married her on July 7th 1971 (an auspicious date) and the privately published work is a chronological account of their honeymoon. It seems that the act of the honeymoon itself was an occasion for nostalgia. Some of the images have a hazy quality to them, a feeling of oppressive heat, others are sharp and dark, a few feel like holiday-snaps of commemorative nature (kinen-shashin): Breakfast in a hotel-room in Kyoto decorated with the latest '70s wallpaper, views from the hotel-window, train-stations, photos of old wedding photos on a wall, gardens, a group of electrical massaging chairs, flower arrangements in a hallway, street-scenes, as well as the infamous sex-scenes with his wife, there is something singularly subdued (if not even unhappy) about the whole affair. And yet the narrative has a pull and the exposure of the most private of memories was Araki's very own attempt at 'honesty' in photography. A separately printed facsimile letter carries a text that seems to anticipate his resignation from Dentsu in the following year. “Dear Sir, I cannot stand it any longer. It has nothing to do with the constant diarrhoea that plagues me but rather with the fashion photographs that surround us. I simply cannot stand all those anonymous faces. All those naked bodies. All those private lives and scenes that are essentially a pack of lies.” The book caused a stir. Looking back at it in the 21st century it can be said to epitomise certain universal and essentially post-modern approaches to life“ (Titus Boeder, 4/07)
Pages: 106
Place: Tokyo
Year: 1971
Publisher: Shikaban
Size: 24 x 24 cm (approx.)
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