When we interact with people in our daily lives, how much information do we read from their facial expressions? Hidden sadness, love reflected in the depths of their eyes, jealousy seeping through... In reality, such emotions cannot be hidden no matter how poker-faced you are. And when we catch a glimpse of the other person's thoughts or past memories in the emotions that spill out from every corner, we become intensely interested in them.

Such an image suddenly comes to mind as we face the naked faces of the men who face the lens with their hearts bare at the Araki Nobuyoshi photo exhibition "Man - The Naked Face of Araki" currently being held at Space O on the third basement floor of the main building of Omotesando Hills. This exhibition, held in conjunction with the publication of "Araki's Naked Face," a series currently running in the magazine "Da Vinci" (KADOKAWA), allows visitors to gaze upon the faces of men ranging from established names like Takeshi Kitano, Sadaharu Oh, Yoshio Harada, Tsutomu Yamazaki, and Utamaru Katsura to young celebrities like Ryuhei Matsuda, Shota Sometani, and Eita. All of the artworks have a white background. Not only viewers, but Araki himself has confronted the "naked faces" in a completely devoid of decoration. "The background is also created by the subject. I simply hold the camera and wait for the 'background to appear.'" Araki reveals his reason for being so particular about his photography space. "For example, if I were to take a quick photo in my dressing room in between TV work, the atmosphere in the dressing room would be reflected in the photograph. Instead, I had to take the time to create this work and it had to become a relationship just between the two of us."

Nostalgic times, unyielding feelings, desired futures... What kind of expressions do the subjects have in front of the scenery they each created? I hope you will come and see for yourself.

The photo exhibition will run from April 24th to May 6th. Admission is free. The special shop inside the venue will sell the photo book "Man - Araki's Naked Face" (KADOKAWA/4,930 yen), which compiles all the photos taken so far for "Araki's Naked Man," as well as original goods such as tote bags and T-shirts.