A Journey into Photography

A journey into photography by Nobuyoshi Araki. Published in 1976 as volume 13 of Asahi Sonorama's "Gendai Camera Shinsho" series, this book collects "Nobuyoshi Araki's Practical Photography Class," a 12-part series that ran in the photography magazine "Asahi Camera" in 1975.

Visiting various parts of Japan, including Sapporo, Bihei, Shinjuku, Kobe, Kurashiki, Sakaiminato, and Hiroshima, Araki photographed with local photography enthusiasts and high school students, developing his theories on photography through a variety of subjects, including people, women, towns, and landscapes.

In Shinjuku, he conducted a photo shoot with photographer Masahisa Fukase as an homage to Eugène Atget, and his interactions with Shoji Ueda in Yonago are also documented. In addition to Araki's own photographs and writings, the book includes photographs taken by Fukase and works by participants that Araki critiqued. Through his photography experiences in various locations, his connections with contemporary photographers and people come to light.

Araki says that losing his mother in 1974 made him more consciously aware of being a photographer. Reflecting on his travels as a photography "teacher" in various places, he says that he was actually a "student" himself. Amidst his humor and lighthearted tone, the book contains ideas that lead to Araki's "personal photography," which captures the relationship between himself and others.

By linking photography with living, this book tells Araki's views on photography through the encounters and events of his travels, offering a glimpse into Nobuyoshi Araki in the mid-1970s.

[Title] A Journey into Photography
[Publisher] Asahi Sonorama
[Publication Date] May 25, 1976 (First Edition)
[Page Count] 172 pages
[Size] Approx. 124 x 172 x 12 mm / 160 g
[Format] Softcover
[Language] Japanese
[Title Reading] Shashin he no tabi
[Author/Editor] Nobuyoshi Araki (Author), supervised by Shigemitsu Kanamaru, Akira Sasai, and Tsutomu Watanabe, designed by Hayato Sonobe
[Printing/Binding] Photo Printing (Printing), Yamato Binding (Binding)
[ISBN] -
[Condition] Used [5] Fair (Sunned edges, minor stains, cover: minor rubbing)
[Accessories] -
[Included Books] -
[Related Exhibitions] -

Nobuyoshi Araki (Araki Nobuyoshi) 1940–

Born in Minowa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, in 1940. Photographer. Graduated from the Department of Photographic Printing in the Faculty of Engineering at Chiba University in 1963. Joined Dentsu that same year. In 1964, he won the 1st Sun Award with a work that became the prototype for the photo book "Satchin".

In 1971, he published the privately printed photo book "A Sentimental Journey," which documented his honeymoon with his wife, Yoko Aoki. He left Dentsu in 1972 and began working as a freelance photographer.

He has photographed the streets of Tokyo, people's lives, women, flowers, the sky, travel, and his own private life, publishing a vast number of works through photo books, magazines, and exhibitions. Through his "personal photography," which connects personal experiences and emotions with photography, he has established a unique position in contemporary Japanese photography.

Major photo books include "A Sentimental Journey" (1971), "Tokyo in Autumn" (1984), "Tokyo Lucky Hole" (1990), and "A Sentimental Journey, A Winter Journey" (1991). He has held numerous solo exhibitions both in Japan and abroad.

< Related Figures >

Nobuyoshi Araki
Yoko Araki
Masahisa Fukase
Shoji Ueda
Koshio Kuwahara
Eugène Atget / Eugène Atget
Diane Arbus / Diane Arbus
Shigemitsu Kanamaru
Akira Sasai
Tsutomu Watanabe
Hayato Sonobe
Asahi Sonorama
Asahi Camera