When artist Nan Goldin asked Araki why he thinks that the smell of death is attached to photography, he answered, "Photography has always been associated with death. Reality is colorful, yet early photography always took the color out of reality and made it black-and-white. Color is life; black-and-white is death".
Araki's statement serves as a fitting motto for this publication. Under the title of Shijyo -- freely translated as Marketplace of Emotions -- the book presents 200 photographs arranged in a sequence of contrasting pairs. As in his previous books and exhibitions, Araki employs a combination method, presenting photos that relate to differing themes. The scintillating color of the "Flower Series" stands in strange contrast to the dark mood of the black-and-white series, called "Death Reality". The latter images are the remains of an old movie Araki made in the 1970s. Stored improperly for many years, the film shows severe damage. It is streaky and bears traces of smoke or soot, as if subjected to violent treatment -- a sign of mortality in Araki's eyes.
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