The 10th Nobuyoshi Araki x Boris Mikhailov Talk Show

photo by Jamandfix

Over the next two installments, we will share highlights from the talk show between Nobuyoshi Araki and Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov, held during the "Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition" last December. The discussion primarily focused on Araki's explanations of the works in the current exhibition. Many unexpected insights emerged, and I felt I gained a deeper understanding of the essence of his photography, something I hadn't fully grasped before. (Nobuhiko Kitamura)

photo by Jamandfix

Just before a flower wilts. That's where I feel intense eros. (Araki)

Araki: Looking at Boris's photos, I feel mine are closer to paintings. Boris, I feel the photography in your work.

Mikhailov: My photos are paintings too.

Araki: Paintings!? (Laughs) Boris, do you enjoy telling little life stories through your photography?

Mikhailov: Hmm, I wonder. What about you, Araki-san?

Araki: Mine don't turn into little stories. They become haiku.

Mikhailov: Haiku are wonderful.

Araki: Haiku also implies "haiku" (廃句), meaning to discard or abandon words.

Boris Mikhailov at the venue. photo by Jamandfix

Mikhailov: I see. By the way, I'd like to hear Araki-san explain his current works himself.

Araki: That's a tough one, I'll have to make something up (laughs). Well, first, "Flowers and Yamorinsky." Flower photography is something I've been doing for a long time. Come to think of it, my flower photography began with the spider lilies offered at Jōkanji Temple in Tōno, where I grew up.
Just before the spider lilies wilt, I feel eros. That's the beginning of my flower photographs. This time, I tried photographing those flowers against a white background. But thinking about it, this white background is probably the sky for me. Then, contemplating what the sky means to me, it's the sky I see from my home balcony after my wife passed away.

When I wake up in the morning, I polish my eyes by photographing the sky before I even brush my teeth. That white of the sky. As for the flowers, starting with spider lilies, why have I continued to photograph them so persistently, especially over the last decade or so? It's also related to my wife's death. Actually, just before she died, when I heard she was in critical condition and went to the hospital, I brought a budded magnolia with me. Ten hours later, when my wife breathed her last, the magnolia bloomed by her bedside.
I suppose my flowers are connected to that moment. The gecko, that's my penis, but why a gecko? Because my cat, Chiro, used to catch them and bring them to me. I had no interest in photographing them while they were alive, but I was drawn to them just before they became mummies, just before they became objects. Like the spider lilies earlier, I'm always drawn to the moment of death. Boris, what do you think of these flower photographs?

photo by Jamandfix

Mikhailov: They are indeed like haiku. I've always loved Araki-san's flower photographs, and I believe no one photographs flowers better than you.

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