1430-japanese-photobooks

3 ARAKI (Nobuyoshi). Tokyo wa, Aki; Toshi no Janarizumu [Tokyo is
Autumn; Journalism in the Capital]. First edition. Numerous photographic
illustrations. Japanese text. Small 8vo. Original decorated boards in dustwrapper
and obi, a very good copy. 180pp. Tokyo, Sanseido, 1984.
Many photographers rate this book amongst Araki’s best work. Street scenes of Tokyo
taken in 1972 and 1973 just after he left Dentsu. The images are combined with a dialogue
between Araki and his wife Yoko. This seemingly innocuous book conveys the essence of
Araki’s technique and the raison d’etre of his work. The first three images are of Golden
Gai, showing the disused tram-line behind the bars. It is a location filled with nostalgia, the
nondescript high-rise in the centre serving to provide a contrast to the decaying traditional
two-story buildings in the foreground. The camera swings to the right to show the back
facade, then goes a little closer to focus on the garbage cans. This is truly post-modern
photography. By focussing on the banal and profane Araki dispenses with the beauty of the
object and by doing so arrives where he wants to be, namely in photography. But Araki’s
images are certainly not random. As he walks around his favourite neighbourhoods he is
keenly aware of the smallest details, the nature and content of billboards, stickers in a
car-window, of the old, the new, and the decaying. As such this is a truly remarkable book.
Only three copies in OCLC.