Nobuyoshi Araki
2THESKY, my Ender
Published by Taka Ishii, 2009
Size: 210 x 260 mm
Pages: 144, 142 illustrations
Softcover
After undergoing surgery for prostate cancer the previous year, Araki worked quickly to produce this work. It is a journal that depicts everyday “things” and “feelings about death” through calligraphy, painting, and collages on his black-and-white photographs of the sky, used here as a kind of canvas.
The first 254 photographs in the series, taken from January 2 to August 15, were published by Shinchosha in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. The last 144 photographs, taken from August 16 to the end of the year, are included in this book.
Araki has explored grief in his work before, dealing with the deaths of his father, mother, and wife Yoko; he has transformed this grief into a force for his photography. This book represents a confrontation with his own death.
A solo exhibition of the same title was held at Taka Ishii Gallery in December 2009.