Nobuyoshi Araki (*1940)
Book Culture Renaissance (Portfolio of 39 works), Japan, ca. 1994
Available only as set
The 39 photographs of the »Book Culture Renaissance« portfolio are print copies for the eponymous »Book Culture Renaissance« booklets #8 and #9. The prints were assembled by Araki and presented as a portfolio in a book-shaped linen case with a self-portrait on the cover and printed slipcase. They show street scenes and architectural shots of urban Tokyo in the style of street photography – a photographic genre with which Araki is rarely associated. He deliberately takes his cue from role models such as Eugène Atget and Walker Evans when documenting the inexorable changes in the metropolis' urban landscape.
Araki sees himself as an observer of everyday life in Tokyo's streets – he democratically photographs whatever comes in front of his lens, be it a bridge, a house wall, children playing, men in a bookshop, shop windows, side alleys or women in kimonos chatting on the street.
Vintage 35mm film diapositive / Gelatin silver print
Image dimensions ca. 21,5 x 19,5 cm (21,5 x 19,5 inch)
Object dimensions 26 x 20,3 cm (26 x 20,3 inch)
Mounting, Framing Original linen-covered cassette with slipcase
Condition
Single weight paper, glossy surface
Annotations
Unique red linen cassette 30.5 x 24 x 5.2 cm, with brown leather spin and a colour transparency mounted on the cover; internal slipcase contains 39 vintage gelatin silver prints on single-weight, glossy baryta in cardboard-covers; 2 copies of the brochure »Book Culture Renaissance«, #8 (signed on the cover) and #9
Prints / Japanese Photography / Straße / Stadt / Architektur /
