Arcana:

(ARAKI, NOBUYOSHI). Araki, Nobuyoshi & Jerome Sans. Koln, GERMANY: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 2002. First Edition 1/2500 Deluxe. Elephant Folio. Cloth in Dust Jacket, Boxed. Photography Monograph. As New/As New. 636pp, profusely illustrated in color and duotone. Text in English, German and French. With a biography and bibliography. "Known best for his intimate, snapshot-style images of women often tied up with ropes and of colorful, sensual flowers, Araki is an artist who reacts strongly to his emotions and uses photography to experience them more fully. Obsessed with women, Araki seeks to come closer to them through photography, using ropes like an embrace and the click of the shutter like a kiss. His work is at once shocking and mysteriously tender". Limited to two-thousand, five hundred copies worldwide, this massive volume (the first of Taschen's XXXL series) pares down decades of Nobuyoshi Araki's oeuvre into a thousand or so images that tell the story of the renowned Japanese photographer and comprise the ultimate retrospective collection of his work. A brand new, pristine example NUMBERED AND BOLDLY SIGNED by Araki in black ink on the title page housed in a clamshell box still sealed in the publisher's printed shipping carton, as issued. 3-8228-1292-7 Inventory Number: 027401

(ARAKI, NOBUYOSHI). Araki, Nobuyoshi, Osamu Wataya, Toshio Shiratani & Takayuki Ishii. Tokyo: Hysteric Glamour, 1999. First Edition. Folio. Illustrated Wrappers. Photography Monograph. Fine.. np, profusely illustrated in b&w. Text in English. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. Published as the tenth installment of Nobuhiko Kitamura's "Hysteric" monographs, this massive, beautifully printed Nobuyoshi Araki book surveys in black and white the architecture, facades, and modes of transportation of a densely populated urban Japanese neighborhood. A bright white, most handsome example (entry number 255 of the Complete List of Nobuyoshi Araki Publications, 1979-2012 in the Izu Photo Museum's "Ararchy Photobook Mania"). Inventory Number: 023971

(ARAKI, NOBUYOSHI). Araki, Nobuyoshi, Osamu Wataya, Toshio Shiratani & Takayuki Ishii. Tokyo: Hysteric Glamour, 1999. First Edition. Folio. Illustrated Wrappers. Photography Monograph. Very Good -.. np, profusely illustrated in b&w. Text in English. Published as the tenth installment of Nobuhiko Kitamura's "Hysteric" monographs, this massive, beautifully printed Nobuyoshi Araki book surveys in black and white the architecture, facades, and modes of transportation of a densely populated urban Japanese neighborhood. A bright white, handsome example (entry number 255 of the Complete List of Nobuyoshi Araki Publications, 1979-2012 in the Izu Photo Museum's "Ararchy Photobook Mania") showing a slight crimp through a portion of the lower foredge corner. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 022265

(ARAKI, NOBUYOSHI). Araki, Nobuyoshi, Seiko Tanabe & Akihito Yasumi. Tokyo. 1996 (2001).: Heibonsha Co.. Later Printing. 4to. Wrappers in Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine./Fine.. 190pp, profusely illustrated in b&w and color. Text in Japanese. Designed by Seiichi Suzuki Design Office. This fifth volume (of twenty) of "The Works of Nobuyoshi Araki" is subtitled "Chrysalis", and focuses on the iconic Japanese photographer's provocative portraits of pre-pubescent Japanese models in varying poses, and states of dress. A brand new, most handsome example of a 2001 later printing of this uncommon item (entry number 167 of the Complete List of Nobuyoshi Araki Publications, 1979-2012 in the Izu Photo Museum's "Ararchy Photobook Mania"). PLEASE NOTE: Due to the explicit nature of some of the content here, you must be at least eighteen years of age to order this item. 4-582-66405-9 Inventory Number: 022899

(HIRANO, TARO). Hirano, Taro. NP (Zurich, SWITZERLAND): Nieves, 2006. First Edition 1/200. 8vo. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Photography Monograph. As New.. np (12pp), profusely illustrated in b&w. Text in English. "Going Over" is the slender, twelve page Nieves publication of Tokyo based skater and photographer Taro Hirano's images of urban Japanese walls that have been painted over in order to mask graffiti. A brand new, pristine example of this uncommon item - Hirano's second book limited to two hundred unnumbered copies. Inventory Number: 020427

(HOMMA, TAKASHI). Homma, Takashi. NP (Zurich, SWITZERLAND): Nieves, 2006. First Edition 1/50 Deluxe. 8vo. Pictorial Wrappers. Photography Monograph. As New.. np (32pp), profusely illustrated in color + color covers. Text in English. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. "Tokyo and My Daughter" is the slender, charming 2006 book of photographs by Takashi Homma of his daughter, apartment, and Tokyo environs. A brand new, pristine example of the deluxe edition limited to fifty numbered copies BOLDLY SIGNED WITH A SMALL DRAWING OF THE SUN by Takashi Homma in silver marker on the rear cover with a 6 x 8 ¾" SIGNED AND NUMBERED color photograph of an interior image that does not appear in the book laid in, as issued. 3-905714-10-8 Inventory Number: 020115

(KON, MICHIKO). Iizawa, Kohtaro & Peter C. Bunnell. Tucson, AZ & Tokyo: Nazraeli Press & Photo Gallery International, 1996. First Edition 1/1000. Square 12mo. Loose Plates in Plexiglas Box. Photography Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. np (28 + 4pp), 41 individual 6 x 6" cardstock sheets printed offset, housed in a clear Plexiglas box with a sliding lid. Text in English and Japanese. "Michiko Kon is a contemporary Japanese artist of startling originality. Her exploration of the photographic still-life, in which perishable materials, raw fish, fowl, vegetables, are combined with familiar, often feminine objects; a schoolgirl's uniform, high-heeled shoes, a pocketbook, trigger our senses of touch, taste and smell through vision and imagination. "Kon Box" presents forty of Kon's most powerful works". A brand new, pristine example of this elegantly designed and produced exhibition catalogue cum object limited to one thousand copies. 3-923922-47-7 Inventory Number: 015444

(MCCLOSKEY, RICK). McCloskey, Rick. Zurich, SWITZERLAND: Sturm and Drang, I00200717, 2020. 3rd Printing. 9 x 11 in., 132 pages. Hardbound. Photography Monograph. New/No Jacket - As Issued.

American car culture at its vibrant best

Wednesday night was Cruise Night in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. The stretch on Van Nuys Boulevard between Ventura Boulevard on the southern end, and well past Sherman Way to the north, teemed with kids and cars from all over Southern California on Wednesday nights. It was a terrific place to both see and be seen, and to show off your ride as well.

Gas was cheap, times were great, and the boulevard hummed with life during the evenings. Even the draft during the Vietnam War did not dampen the street scene. By 1972, the year Rick McCloskey went to Van Nuys to shoot his series of photographs, the culture on the boulevard had become an amalgamation of divergent lifestyles, automobiles – used and new – and some very different looks and styles. There were tribes of van kids – surfers mostly – low-riders, muscle cars, street racers, Volkswagen owners, and many more, and of course, thousands of young people. The idea of retro had arrived as well, with some young people emulating the look and style of the 1950s. Of course, there were individuals who had to be there for work. In making these images, Rick McCloskey set about portraying the young people, their cars, and the iconic background settings.

Today, young people no longer have anything similar to the past boulevard gathering places, where so many people can enjoy just being there together. Akin to starlight still trickling in from a long vanished world, these photographic images are what we have left. A brand new, most handsome example of this sadly out of print gem. 978-1910164761 Inventory Number: I00200717

(MORIMURA, YASUMASA). Morimura, Yasumasa. Santa Monica, CA: Peter Norton Family Foundation, 1995. First Edition. Artists' Multiple. Fine.. "Each year the Norton Family commissions an original artwork as a greeting for the holiday season. This year's is by Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura. Morimura-san photographs himself in re-creations of important Western cultural images. His work explores the issues of meaning, identity, authenticity, and viewpoint: issues that have become key themes in contemporary cultural dialogue". For 1995's Christmas Project, Morimura contributed "Ambiguous Beauty" - the artist/photographer's rather unsettling, gender bending self-portrait as Marilyn Monroe (in Tom Kelley's iconic 1949 full-length nude against a red background) photomechanically reproduced on the face of an inexpensive Japanese hand-held folding fan. The fan is housed in a paper sleeve inside a silkscreened wooden case. A most handsome example of this charming object issued hors commerce in 1995, and never commercially available for sale. Inventory Number: 027556

(PROVOKE). Schifferli, Christoph, Takuma Nakahira, Nobuyoshi Araki & Daido Moriyama. Christoph Schifferli, Editor. Paris: Edition 7L, 2001. First Edition 1/1500. 4to. Wrappers in a Wooden Box. Photography Monographs. As New./As New.. 68 + 100 + 110 + 192 + 108 + 310 + 32pp, profusely illustrated in b&w and color. Text in Japanese and English. Designed by Karl Lagerfeld and Gerhard Steidl. The "Japanese Box" reproduces in facsimile six publications by a remarkable and influential group of Japanese photographers and writers whose work was a response to the climate of political unrest in Tokyo around 1968. The publication includes all three issues of "Provoke" magazine issued between 1968 and 1969, the landmark stand alone photobooks "For a Language to Come" by Takuma Nakahira (1970), "Sentimental Journey" by Nobuyoshi Araki (1971), and "A Farewell to Photography" by Daido Moriyama (1972), along with a brief history and overview volume authored by the project's editor, Christoph Schifferli. The seven publications are enclosed in heavy Japanese handmade paper, banded with printed elastic bands, and contained in a black wooden box with title on the hinged lid, exposed joinery, and dual clasps. A brand new, unused, example of this remarkable undertaking limited to one thousand, five hundred copies whose paper and rubber band bindings are partially perished - as usual, still in the publisher's printed cardboard shipping carton. 3-88243-301-9 Inventory Number: 026685

(SANDER, AUGUST) (FURUYA, SEIICHI) (DEJA-VU). Sawada, Yoko, Editor-In-Chief. Tokyo: Photo-planete Co., Ltd., 1994. First Edition. 4to. Pictorial Wrappers. Photography Periodical. Near Fine.. 121pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Text in Japanese and English. This is the seventeenth installment (of twenty published) of the beautifully produced Japanese photographic quarterly "Deja-Vu". The issue is devoted to two lengthy portfolios of portraiture by August Sander and Seiichi Furuya, as well as work by Hajime Sawatari and Tsuguya Inoue. Much more book than magazine, it's elegantly appointed with many full bleed pictures. A handsome example showing a tiny bit of wear and handling to the covers. 4-309-903-37-1 Inventory Number: 001502

(SAWATARI, HAJIME). Sawatari, Hajime. Tokyo: Hysteric Glamour, 2000. First Edition. Folio. Printed Metallic Wrappers. Photography Monograph. Good +.. np, profusely illustrated in b&w. Hajime Sawatari's "A Girl" is another of the estimably hip Japanese fashion/style purveyor Hysteric Glamour's series of beautifully produced limited edition photography monographs. It is an oversized, erotically obsessive compendium of hundreds of full page black and white images, many nude, of a single Japanese lass taken by the creator of the truly twisted 1974 photographically illustrated retelling of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". A shiny, most presentable example of this uncommon item BOLDLY SIGNED "SAWATARI" in black marker on the title page showing a dent through the textblock at the heel of the spine as well as a soft crease to the front cover and a slight curl to the pages at the lower foredge corner. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 020807

(SAWATARI, HAJIME). Sawatari, Hajime. Tokyo: Hysteric Glamour, 2000. First Edition. Folio. Printed Metallic Wrappers. Photography Monograph. Good.. np, profusely illustrated in b&w. Hajime Sawatari's "A Girl" is another of the estimably hip Japanese fashion/style purveyor Hysteric Glamour's series of beautifully produced limited edition photography monographs. It is an oversized, erotically obsessive compendium of hundreds of full page black and white images, many nude, of a single Japanese lass taken by the creator of the truly twisted 1974 photographically illustrated retelling of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". A shiny, presentable example only of this uncommon item BOLDLY SIGNED by Hajime Sawatari in kanji in black marker on the title page showing dents and soft creases at each of the four corners of the textblock. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 020806

(SUGIMOTO, HIROSHI). Sugimoto, Hiroshi & Kozo Fujimoto. Tokyo: Rikuyosha Co. Ltd., 2004. First Edition. 4to. Boards in Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine/Fine. 168pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Text in English and Japanese. Designed by Rie Shimoda. With a biography and exhibition history. This is the exquisite hardbound catalogue produced as the documentation of a 2003 Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition entitled "L'Histoire de L'Histoire". For it, the renowned photographer selected objects and sites of Japanese cultural and historical importance, photographed them, and then installed these images along with older works (the dioramas, seascapes and portraits) in a Tokyo gallery curated by the luxury goods concern Hermes. The resulting work is unlike any of Sugimoto's previous books, and hauntingly beautiful. A brand new, most handsome example. 4-89737-498-7 Inventory Number: 019731

(SUZUKI, AMI). Suzuki, Ami. Tokyo: Bungei Shunju Ltd., 2003. First Edition. 8vo. Wrappers in Dust Jacket. Music Monograph. Fine./Fine.. np, profusely illustrated in color. Text in Japanese. Published only in her native Japan, this is a peppy, poppy, copiously illustrated book devoted solely to good-natured J-Rock empress Ami Suzuki. Whether reclining in a silk negligee, strumming her guitar, or teasing her senses with the sex organs of exotic blooms in photographs that would not be out of place in a Nobuyoshi Araki volume, she's all pensive-yet-fun-lovin' girl. These pix are accompanied by song lyrics, poems, and drawings by Ami herself - a gift to her fans who stood by her during her early Twenty-First Century financial and record-company woes. A brand new, most handsome example in the publisher's obi. 4-16-365490-9 Inventory Number: 013383

(SUZUKI, RISAKU). Suzuki, Risaku. Tokyo: Hysteric Glamour, 2003. First Edition 1/500. 4to. Cloth in Acetate Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine/Fine. np (44pp), 20 color illustrations. Text in English. This is the eighth installment in the estimably hip Japanese fashion/style purveyor Hysteric Glamour's series of beautifully produced limited edition photography monographs. Preceding "Yuki Sakura" by five years, it features Risaku Suzuki's vibrant gatefold images of blossoming Japanese Cherry trees captured against impossibly blue skies. A brand new, pristine NUMBERED (150/500) example of the first and only edition limited to five hundred copies. Inventory Number: 025534

(SUZUKI, RISAKU). Suzuki, Risaku & Hideki Maeda. Tucson, AZ: Nazraeli Press, 2004. First Edition 1/1000. Oblong Folio. Cloth in Pictorial Dust Jacket. Photography Monograph. Fine/Fine. np (80pp), 43 color illustrations. With a biography and exhibition history. "Featured in over fifty paintings by Cezanne, the Mont Sainte Victoire in Southern France is familiar even to those who have never been there. A century later, photographer Risaku Suzuki has followed in the great artist’s footsteps, using a quite different medium to depict the landscape on the way". A brand new pristine example of this lovely Nazraeli Press title limited to one thousand copies only still in the publisher's shrinkwrap. 1-59005-085-1 Inventory Number: 023317

(TAKAHASHI, SHOKEN). Takahashi, Shoken. Tokyo, JAPAN: Takeshobo, 1994. First Edition. Small Folio. Boards in Printed Dust Jacket. Erotic Photography Monograph. Very Good -/Good +. np, profusely illustrated in color. Text in Japanese and English. The "IkeIke Girls" were a popular early -to-mid-nineties Japanese Pop Idol trio. "Sumilon" is a lavish Shashinsu Glamour photobook by the noted erotic photographer Shoken Takahashi featuring the group posing nude at an exotic beach resort. Published in 1994 it contains both playful and pensive full frontal pictures of the group's final lineup - Kyoko Maki, Yuko Miyabi, and Hitomi Akiyama - alone and together. None of the copious below-the-waist photgraphy in this Japanese publication has been airbrushed, blacked-out, or pixilated. A brand new, most handsome example of the first edition of this uncommon (not a single copy is currently cited in OCLC WorldCat) item additionally BOLDLY INSCRIBED AND SIGNED "Ike 2 Girls" / "Kyoko" / "Hitomi" / "Yuko" in black marker on the front pastedown. 4-88475-291-0 Inventory Number: 027102

(TOMATSU, SHOMEI) (DOMON, KEN). Tomatsu, Shomei, Ken Domon, Kiyoshi Sakuma, Nobuo Kusano & Toshio Hata. Tokyo: The Japan Council Against the A and H Bombs, 1961. First Edition. Large Square 4to. Decorative Cloth + Wrappers. Photography Monograph. Good./No Jacket - As Issued.. np + 54pp, profusely illustrated in duotone. Text in English. Designed by Kohei Sugiura. In protective clear acetate dustwrappers. This is Ken Domon and Shomei Tomatsu's remarkable book of photographs reflecting the aftermath of the atomic bombs the US dropped on The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to hasten the end World War II. In addition to the gripping hardbound volume of images, it contains a second English language publication in wrappers reprinting scholarly articles by Kiyoshi Sakuma, Nobuo Kusano, Toshio Hata on the radiation and its effects. A serviceable example only of this remarkable Post-War Japanese photographic book (cited on pages 274-75 of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's "The Photobook: A History Volume I and as entry 270 in Manfred Heiting and Ryuichi Kaneko's "The Japanese Photobook 1912-1990") lacking the publisher's slipcase, and whose primary volume's off-white exterior is browned along the spine, moderately soiled, and exhibits notable insect damage to the ink of its decorative design of concentric circles. Internally it is bright and sound, with the textblock lightly browned along the edges and pulling ever so slightly at the signatures. The paper text volume shows some overall wear, light browning and soiling to the covers and edges, cracking along the spine, and a small closed tear to the foredge corner of the front cover. It has been priced accordingly. Inventory Number: 017915

(VISIONAIRE). Edited By Gan, Stephen, Cecilia Dean & James Kaliardos. Text By Glenn O'Brien.. New York: Visionaire Publishing, 2000. First Edition 1/6000. 4to. Fashion Quarterly. Near Fine/No Jacket - As Issued. np (48pp) + 16 six-sided pictorial blocks housed in a Lucite case. Published in an edition of six thousand copies, this is the thirtieth installment of everyone's favorite long-running luxe fashion quarterly, Visionaire. Issued in conjunction with the Louis Vuitton Cup Trials to determine the finalists for the 2000 America's Cup yacht race, Visionaire assembled teams of artists, photographers and image makers from the seven participating countries. Six contributors each from the U.S., Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Spain and Switzerland produced an image that occupies one side of each of the enclosed blocks; the sixteen cubes placed in the correct configuration form one of the six different images. The six Japanese contributors represented here are Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, Takashi Homma, Syd Mead, Daisuke Nakayama, and Miwa Yanagi. These cubes, along with a booklet of all forty-two images are packaged inside a silk-screened Lucite case created for Visionaire by Louis Vuitton. The closure for this case is a spherical compass on a leather thong, so you'll never get lost while trying to solve the puzzles inside. A most handsome individually numbered example (#2662) of the Japan edition inside the publisher's unprinted protective cardboard shipping box, as issued. 1-888645-27-X Inventory Number: 023774

(YOKOO, TADANORI). Yokoo, Tadanori.. Osaka, JAPAN: Gallery Interform / Masaya Yamaguchi, 1996. Edition Not Stated - Presumed First. 12mo. Illustrated Wrappers. Artist Monograph. Near Fine.. np (16pp), 8 color illustrations. Text in Japanese and English. Designed by Jun Sato. Best known for his seventies album covers for Miles Davis, Santana, the Beatles, and more, Tadanori Yokoo is arguably the most influential Japanese graphic designer of the Twentieth Century. He is also a well-known artist, photographer, and designer of installations. Published in conjunction with a 1996 Japanese gallery exhibition, this is a nicely presented book of eight full color postcards that reproduce computer-altered outdoor portraits of the Yokoo family - many including a falling water motif. A most handsome example of this uncommon ephemeral item. Inventory Number: O27656

Kaigo No Hana Photographers Club, Editor. Tokyo: Nippon Geijutsu Shuppansha, 1994. First Edition. 4to. Wrappers in Pictorial Jacket. Fine./Fine.. np, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Text in Japanese, with some English. The Kaigo No Hana Photographers Club "Girl" anthologies are sumptuous annual publications featuring the best of their amateur members' work alongside that of professional submissions. Billed as "Japan's Standard in Nudity", the images are beautifully photographed and printed female nudes - both Asian and Caucasian. This anthology collects the best amateur work of six years of these publications. A brand new, pristine example. 4-89011-341-X Inventory Number: 012898

Sha-Girl Editorial Staff. Tokyo: Nippon Geijutsu Shuppansha, 1995. First Edition. 4to. Cloth in Dust Jacket. Fine/Fine. 96pp, profusely illustrated in color. Text in Japanese. From the Japanese publisher of the "Sha-Girl" annuals comes the third installment of this anthology that contains five separate erotic photo-essays devoted to young Asian female beauty (although one of the subjects this time around is decidedly Caucasian). A most handsome example. 4-89011-355-X Inventory Number: 008896