TRAVEL PICTURES 2008-2014: FROM ALOR TO ZIMBABWE

Landau’s collection of vacation photos highlights famous landmarks and traditional architecture.

This book offers a selection of high-resolution photographs taken on vacations in Indonesia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe between 2008 and 2014. The subject matter of the photos ranges from wildlife in Zambia and South Africa to members of Indigenous cultures in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Cameroon. Traditional architecture is a frequent subject, featured in images of a colorful urban cityscape in Yemen, Syrian domed houses, and the Kome cave dwellings of Lesotho. Landau also includes photos of famous landmarks such as the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Greece, Jordan’s Petra, and the Rock of Cashel and Glendalough monastic ruins of Ireland. Standout photos depict lesser-known subjects including the buried churches of Ethiopia’s Lalibela region, Musgum mud huts in Cameroon, and sacred cloth-wrapped stones at a Hindu temple in Lombok, Indonesia. Unfortunately, the task of identifying the subjects of these photos is left entirely up to the viewer: Landau organizes the photographs by country, but provides no other text except for the year in which each site was visited. There are no captions identifying individual people, cultures, or specific locations, nor are exact dates provided for when the photographs were snapped. While perfectly adequate for memorializing vacations, these photographs are not unique or creative enough in composition or style to stand alone without some kind of description. Landau clearly has an eye for compelling subjects; he focuses his lens on armed youths in an Ethiopian village, for example. But without context, his portraits of costumed dancers in Cameroon, whimsical Ethiopian wood carvings, and petrograms in Gabon leave viewers with more questions than insights. Short narratives recounting the circumstances in which the photos were taken, discussions of Landau’s choice of subject or perspective, or information about regional history would have provided greater justification for sharing these images with a wider audience. Without such context, these photos are unable to communicate to readers as fully as Landau may have wished them to.

Eye-catching but unidentified photographs make for an incomplete visual travelogue.