'Through his immense body of work Araki has created his own universe, where the themes of sex, life and death are closely intertwined. Tokyo, Araki's home city, often plays a leitmotif in his work, while his rich visual vocabulary is drawn from the erotc ukiyo-e prints of the Edo period (1600-1868) as well as the glossy imagery of the new commercial culture. Through his innovative approach to photography - sometimes combining painting, drawing and film - Araki has become an important and infuential figure in the contemporary art world.

This major pulbication provides the most comprehensive overview yet of Araki's highly prolific forty-year career. Araki's key series of works are included alongside many new and previously unpublished photographs. Featuring an interview and essays by wrtiers from Japan and Europe, this book examines Araki from a broad range of perspectives and gives a cultural context to his work. Also included is a wide selection of Araki's writings, translated into English for the first time, as well as an illustrated and annotated bibliography of his own books. Reflecting Araki's photographic principle, 'I-photography', the book is divided into three sections that follow the main recurring themes in his work: Self, Life and Death.'

- extracted from the inside flap of the cover