Nobuyoshi Araki: It Was Once a Paradise is a hardcover photography book published by Reflex Editions in Amsterdam. Across 100 pages, the book presents 40 diptychs that combine Araki’s intimate color photography with black-and-white diary-like still lifes, creating a powerful reflection on love, mourning, desire, and memory.

Inside, each pairing contrasts a color image of a semi-nude woman in bondage with a quieter black-and-white still life from Araki’s Tokyo balcony, a private space haunted by the absence of his late wife Yoko and his cat Chiro. The book is designed to be read in either direction and was issued with two dust jacket options, echoing the emotional contrast between nostalgia and erotic hope. This Reflex Editions title is a strong collector’s book for fans of Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese photography, intimate photo diaries, and contemporary artist books.

Author: Nobuyoshi Araki, Marcel Feil

Format: Hardcover

Language: English

Pages: 100 pages

Size: 24.7 × 35 cm / 9.7 × 13.8 in

Published: 2012

ISBN: 9789071848124

Publisher: Reflex Editions Amsterdam