XL. Araki. Bondage

Kinbaku-bi, Anyone?
Araki's Striking Photos of Traditional Japanese Bondage

He's been called a genius and a poet, but also a misogynist, a pornographer, a monster-but Nobuyoshi Araki's work transcends simple moralistic classifications. He has said of his work: “There is no conclusion. It's completely open. It doesn't go anywhere.” One of the greatest Japanese photographers of our time, Araki's oeuvre is marked by an unmistakable mastery of composition, color, and tone.
Meaning “the beauty of tight binding,” Kinbaku-bi, the traditional Japanese art of erotic bondage has long fascinated the photographer, becoming one of his most important subjects. Araki plays with patterns of subjugation and emancipation, death and desire and with the slippage between serene image and shock.