Source: Anothermag.com

USA – NEW YORK – Nobuyoshi Araki is among the enigmatic contemporary photographers whose work – despite its suggestive sexuality – radiates a willful mystery and an insinuated invitation. Mostly shot in black and white, his images depict female subjects in intimate settings, often in strong dialogues with the camera, which posits itself in cinematic angles. The Japanese photographer’s images of Kinbaku-bi constitute perhaps his most well-known oeuvre in the West, lifting the curtain on his nation’s controversial and commonly misunderstood erotic bondage tradition.

In the photos, female models – hermetically tied with ropes – perform physically challenging contortions almost effortlessly. They inhabit casually decorated interiors with a few pieces of furniture. Washed by soft but determined light, their bodies are a site of combat between autonomy and submission. “An effortless sense of performance is played both by the model and the artist,” says Christoph Gerozissis, senior director of Anton Kern Gallery in New York, which has collaborated with Meredith Rosen Gallery for the new exhibition, Les Miserables.