A Vanished World - Hardcover

Thesiger, Wilfred

4.48

82 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007108370 ISBN 13: 9780007108374

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

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A beautifully produced volume of Wilfred Thesiger’s finest portraiture of tribal peoples taken over decades of travel in some of the remotest areas on the planet.

Wilfred Thesiger’s superb portraits of tribal peoples have earned him worldwide recognition as a photographer. Using a simple box camera which had belonged to his father, Thesiger began his photographic career during a short hunting trip in Ethiopia in 1930 and used the same camera to photograph hostile Danakil tribesmen when he returned three years later to explore the Awash river.

Whilst in the Sudan, and now equipped with a Leica 35mm, Thesiger portrayed the Muslim tribes in Nothern Darfur, pagan Nuer in the Western Nile swamps and Nuba wrestlers. Among Ethiopia’s Danakil he had travelled as a European accompanied by servants, but here he lived increasingly on equal terms with his followers and his photography mirrors this changed attitude.

The dramatic visual impact of Arabia’s deserts fully awakened Thesiger’s latent talent for portraiture and composition. During his five years in Arabia from 1945-50 he was able to depict his Bedu companions with a sensitivity and power only suggested by his pre-war photographs. Conceived in the harshest of settings, these Arabain pictures bear eloquent testimony to the inspirational effect the desert had upon this great traveller. In contrast, tranquil images of reeds, waterways and lagoons characterize Thesiger’s matchless portraits of the Marsh Arabs of Iraq – in which he captures a world which has now completely disappeared. In the seldom visited regions of Kurdistan, Pakistan and Afganistan Thesiger took many photographs of their striking inhabitants who remained thoroughly unselfconscious in front of the camera – as did the graceful tribespeople of northern Kenya and Tanzania later in Thesiger’s eventful life.

These unique portraits were all taken under exceptional conditions. Together they provide a magnificent pictorial record of diverse cultures and vanished worlds.

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Review:

Praise for Desert, Marsh and Mountain:

‘His sensual delight in the harsh world of the nomad is apparent in his exquisite photography.’
Daily Telegraph

Praise for My Kenya Days:

‘Magnificent photographs... displaying a reverence for their subject matter’
Sunday Telegraph

From the Back Cover:

Wilfred Thesiger's superb portraits of tribal peoples have earned him worldwide recognition as a photographer. Using a box camera which had belonged to his father, he began his photographic career in 1930, at the age of twenty, during a short hunting trip in Ethiopia, and used the same camera to photograph hostile Danakil tribesmen when he returned three years later to explore the Awash river.

Whilst in Sudan, and now equipped with a Leica 35mm camera, Thesiger portrayed Muslim tribes in Norhtern Dafur, pagan Nuer in the Western Nile swamps and magnificent Nuba wrestlers. Among Ethiopia's Danakil he had travelled as a European accompanied by servants, but here he lived on increasingly equal terms with his followers. His photography mirrors this changed attitude – rather than simply recording people, places and events, he began to select and compose his subjects more carefully.

The visual drama of Arabia's deserts completed the development of Thesiger's latent talent for portraiture. During his five years in Arabia (1945-1950) he was able to depict his Bedu companions with the full sensitivity and power which his pre-war photographs had begun to suggest. Conceived on the harshest of settings, these Arabian pictures bear eloquent testimony to the inspirational effect the desert had upon Thesiger. In contrast, tranquil images of reeds, waterways and lagoons characterise his matchless portraits of the Marsh Arabs of Iraq – in which he captures a world which has now completely disappeared. Between 1951-1965 Thesiger visited remote mountain areas in Kurdistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their striking inhabitants remained quite unselfconscious in front of the camera – as did graceful tribespeople in northern Kenya and Tanzania whom Thesiger photographed some years later.

These unique portraits were all taken under exceptional conditions, often in particularly hostile environments. Together, they provide a magnificent pictorial record of diverse cultures and vanished worlds.

Praise for 'Desert, Marsh and Mountain':

"His sensual delight in the harsh world of the nomad is apparent in his exquisite photography."
JAN MORRIS, 'Daily Telegraph'

Praise for 'My Kenya Days':

"Magnificent photographs... displaying a reverence for their subject matter"
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Praise for 'Among the Mountains':

"The photographs alone make it worth a place on the traveller's bookshelf"
WANDERLUST

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