As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
“Everyone is an explorer. How could you possibly live your life looking at a door and not go in?” Bob Ballard, an underwater archaeologist, said (quoted on p 53). I agree with the sentiment, and have gone through my share of doors, but I have to admit that I am not even tempted by the deep ocean. But I want others to go and share their experiences with me, and that is part of what makes this book so amazing!
Whether it’s photos of ice caves deep under glaciers (another place I don’t want to go) or a photo of a train hopper on a long goods train winding through the Sahara (a place I have been and even lived!), these beautiful full-color photographs pull you in, from your everyday life and couch to the far extremes of life on this gorgeous planet.
And that’s just talking about the photographs of nature. I also love seeing the variety of people and cultures. A young woman is regal, a true princess, even though reading the caption shows me that her crown is cardboard and her train made of a lace curtain, near Western Siberia. A nomadic girl milks a yak in a remote mountainous region of Afghanistan. But a couple dances the tango in Argentina, and children in Arkansas hold disposable protective glasses to their faces while gazing up at an eclipse, places and images that are more familiar, yet shown me in a new way as interpreted by a photographer behind a lens.
The Photographs is divided into chapters: The Power to Discover, Protect, Honor, Cherish, and Reveal. Together they show us our world. This is a beautiful book, worth the hours you can wile away perusing its contents and dreaming yourself in places and with people you’d never otherwise know. Highly recommended.
