Our Thursday series features must-read books from each branch of the art bookshop NADiff. This week's recommendation is Nobuyoshi Araki's "Sachin Original Edition." It's introduced by NADiff Aichi, our Aichi/Nagoya branch (2nd basement floor of the Aichi Arts Center, 1-13-2 Higashisakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture).
■ "Sachin Original Edition" by Nobuyoshi Araki
"Sachin" is known as Araki Nobuyoshi's debut work, and won him the first Taiyo Award in 1964. While he was a student at Chiba University's Faculty of Engineering, Araki photographed this series from 1962 to 1963, depicting children (Sachin was the leader of the gang) playing in an abandoned reinforced concrete apartment building in Mikawashima. At the time, the negatives of the winning works were lost while being handed over to be published in the magazine, and so the works were never released as a photobook. Now, more than 50 years later, advances in scanning and printing technology have allowed them to be compiled from old magazines and re-released in the form of this book. Other "Satchin"-related publications include "Satchin," a photobook of non-winning works published by Shinchosha in 1994; "Satchin and Mabo," a limited-edition photobook commemorating the completion of the 20-volume Araki Nobuyoshi Photograph Collection, which was available only to those who submitted a copy by cutting out the cover; and a portion of the work appearing in the catalog for the large-scale solo exhibition "Nobuyoshi Araki: Ojo Shashu" held in 2014. However, to see the Taiyo Prize-winning works featured in this book, one had to go back to the magazines of the time.
This is the origin of Nobuyoshi Araki's work, vividly depicting the energy of children running around the housing complex, which cannot be contained on the screen. When it was published in a magazine, it was accompanied by text written by Araki, and has now been revived in a picture book-like finish.
[Book Information]
"Satchin Original Edition"
Author: Nobuyoshi Araki
Publisher: Kawade Shobo Shinsha
Language: Japanese
Hardcover / 32 pages / 220 x 210 mm
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Price: 1,600 yen
