In the year 1940, Nobuyoshi Araki was born in Tokyo. Araki has been photographing since his father gave him a camera when he was twelve years old. After graduating from Chiba University with a degree in photography and cinema, he entered into commercial photography. In 1970, he made his renowned Xeroxed Picture Albums, which he mailed out in limited quantities to friends, art critics, and random people from the phone book. His stark, unapologetic images of his private life have sparked much debate and restriction over the years (particularly in his home Japan), but this hasn't deterred the artist or decreased his popularity. Araki's art has been published in over 400 books to date.