Nobuyoshi Araki Moonlight Photography Limited Edition with Polaroid

This limited edition photo book, "Moonlight Photography," by photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, includes Polaroids. A total of 26 scrapbooks, in which Araki took personal sketches and created layouts himself between 1964 and 1971 in sketchbooks from the stationery store "Gekkoso," were discovered in a warehouse and compiled into this book. The period spans from 1964, when he won the first Taiyo Prize for "Sachin," to 1972, when he left Dentsu to become a freelancer, a period before "Sentimental Journey." This is the first public record of Araki's so-called "blue period," which he himself says "hasn't changed since then."

The book is mainly composed of unpublished works, and motifs that would later lead to his representative works are already evident throughout. It also includes the handwritten titles on the covers of each scrapbook. The book is a generous 510 pages in A4 format, and includes an interview booklet with Araki explaining his works.

The limited edition includes a Polaroid taken by Nobuyoshi Araki himself. A one-of-a-kind Polaroid of Araki in the present is included in the specially designed box. Together with the photo book, it is a composition where the past and present intersect.

[Title] Moonlight Photo Limited Edition with Polaroid
[Publisher] Switch Publishing
[Publication date] November 27, 2019
[Number of pages] 510 pages
[Size] Approx. 217*274*44mm, 1765g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title reading] Gelato Photo Polaroid Tsuki Gendaiban
[Author/Editor, etc.] Nobuyoshi Araki/Author
[printing]
[ISBN] 978-4-88418-473-5
[Condition] Used [8] Excellent condition (box tape peeling marks)
[Accessories] Polaroid photo (signed), box
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Nobuyoshi Araki (1940-)

Born on May 25, 1940 in Minowa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.
In 1959, he entered the Department of Photographic Printing Engineering at Chiba University's Faculty of Engineering, graduating in 1963. After graduation, he joined Dentsu and worked as a promotional photographer. In 1964, he won the first Taiyo Award for "Satchin," demonstrating his presence as a photographer.

In 1971, he published a privately published photo book, Sentimental Journey, documenting his honeymoon with his colleague Aoki Yoko, establishing his style of "personal photography." In 1972, he left Dentsu to become a freelancer, photographing a wide variety of subjects, including nudes, cityscapes, flowers, his beloved cat Chiro, everyday life with his wife Yoko, and street snapshots. His style, which brings to the forefront fragments of everyday life and personal emotions, created a new trend in the world of photography.

Since the 1980s, he has been taking densely-spaced photographs of everyday life using medium-format cameras such as the Pentax 67, Plaubel Makina 67, and Leica. With an intimate gaze on his subjects and a sense of humour, he pursues expressions that blur the boundaries between private and public space. He has published over 500 photobooks, earning him high praise both in Japan and abroad.

His major photo books include "Sentimental Journey" (1971), "Tokyo Weather" (1977), "Photo-Mad Old Man A" (1990), "Photography Personalism" (2000), and "The Complete Works of Nobuyoshi Araki" (2008).

His awards include the Taiyo Prize, the Austrian Order of Science and Arts, the 6th Ango Prize, and the 54th Mainichi Art Award Special Prize. He continues to actively photograph today and is known worldwide as one of Japan's leading contemporary photographers.

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Nobuyoshi Araki,