Nobuyoshi Araki and Juergen Teller: Leben und Tod

Two legendary photographers meditate on death, memory and ritual.

The latest collaboration between these two seminal photographers, Leben und Tod is the culmination of their joint exhibition at artspace AM, Tokyo, in 2019. This intensely personal project concentrates on Juergen Teller’s (born 1964) series Leben und Tod (Life and Death), which reflects upon the death of his uncle and stepfather Artur, juxtaposing photographs of his mother and homeland in Bubenreuth, Bavaria, with symbolic images of fertility and life on holiday in Bhutan with his partner Dovile Drizyte.

Inspired by this series, Nobuyoshi Araki (born 1940) asked to photograph Teller’s “childhood memory objects,” items of particular emotional significance to him and his parents. Teller eagerly collected such personal gems, among them toys, a porcelain figurine and bridges made in the family’s violin workshop; the resulting images by Araki are haunting yet playful, creating an intriguing narrative alongside the original story.