While most widely known for his erotic and bondage works, Araki works cover ground far greater than that of a simple pornographer. Having published/been published in approximately 250 publications, (source: World Cat Identities) it is possible that he is Japan's most prolific photographer.
After photographing Björk in the late nineties, his work began reach an international audience it would have not seen otherwise.
Araki experimented with processing his film at high temperatures, or allowing his fim to partially rot. This resulted in scenes suggestive of atomic warfare, Hiroshima, and Japan's own unresolved post-war guilt.
From youtube: Araki talks about this technique as well as his overall personal motivation and methodology behind photography. (narration, translated into english and pictures)
In part 2 he discusses the accidental foreshadowing of his wife's death as seen in their honeymoon pictures, and how this lead into his obsession with sex and death.
Björk by ArakiEven Björk, When seen though Araki's lens, suggests Japanese undertone.
Araki was interested in depecting 私東京 私写真- 'my tokyo' or 'my photography'
dirty, honest, sincere, sad, and sensual
"I believe Tokyo to have the highest concentration of sad people of any city." - Araki
(From Contacts Vol. 2, Portraits of Contemporary Photographers. )
the photographer himself
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