Bondage Photography by Nobuyoshi Araki
The world of photography is blessed with few great photographers and Nobuyoshi Araki is one of them. Since the year 1963, Araki has gifted many beautiful photos to the world with his talent and hard work.
Bondage photography, as controversial as it seems, is still a popular choice of photography and Nobuyoshi Araki is one of the best photographers in the world when it comes to this genre.
Araki has currently published over 450 books and is well known for his “over-the-edge” approach to photography, which is often focused around Japan’s underground sex industry. During a 46-year career, Araki has successfully developed many ideas through his lenses regarding sex, death and domination. Within this wide range of published books, Araki has told many hidden stories on various topics, such as prostitution, sadomasochism, love and intimacy.
The bondage concept is actually nothing new to the Japanese people as “Kinbaku-bi” or “Shibari” is actually a form of rope bondage art, which, in Japan, means “the beauty of tight binding”.
In the 13th century, this art was a quick and respectful method of binding captives, yet by the time of the 19th century, this same art had become sexualized.
Araki has faced many controversies for his love of bondage photography as the topic itself is quite a controversial one; not only because of its sexual approach and sexually explicit nature, but also because of its perceived misogyny. In this vein, Araki has also been previously arrested due to his violations against obscenity laws.
Should you ask, what is Nobuyoshi Araki particularly known for? Then there can be only one answer, and that is his highly sexual – and often controversial – black and white photography. The art of rope bondage fascinates him to a great degree and as such he owes his numerous successes to the beautiful Japanese women that model for him.
“Kinbaku-bi” or “the beauty of tight binding” revolves around the ideas of eroticism, submission and control, which is actually the main concept of Araki’s photography and has, thus, turned out to be quite an obsession for Araki over time.
From the 1970’s to the present, this extremely talented Japanese photographer has thoroughly explored the amazing form of bondage art. Although he, at first, kept his experiments to himself, he soon expanded this kinky yet respected form of art across the globe.
In the year 2011, Araki captured none other than Lady Gaga “tied in a rope”, which, after it was leaked, created a huge sensation around the globe. Again in the year 2016, Araki didn’t hesitate to shoot Kiko Mizuhara covered in ropes for a “Supreme collection.”
There is a strange beauty to this bizarre form of art, when you see a woman draped in a kimono suspended aloft with ropes, but there is still a deep pain hidden behind each photo showing their great meaning.
Araki’s pictures have been highly criticized and, above all, his love for this particular genre has been exceedingly disapproved; many people even term his pictures as “equal to pornography”, while others deem him as a supporter of violence against women.
Although his pursuit of “Kinbaku-bi” has led to a great deal of controversy, Nobuyoshi Araki still proves to be one of the best photographers of all time. His fascination for the “art of bondage” has given him worldwide recognition which, in a way, is a great opportunity for him.
The 76-year-old photographer, also known for his documentary-style photos of Japan, is now collaborating with “Supreme”, which has proven to bring Araki’s love for “Shibari” to come to the forefront.
