Deserts of the Earth [Hardcover]

Michael Martin (Author), Elke Wallner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

A photographic tour of the world's major deserts includes the landscapes of the Great Sandy Desert, the Great Basin, and the Kalahari as captured by the photographer during a five-year motorcycle tour and in the face of significant political and physical odds, in a volume complemented by text on eac

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Born in Munich in 1963, photographer Michael Martin must surely have been a nomad in another life, as he's become the world's photographer of the African deserts. Over the years, he's published 15 books and taken at least 80 journeys throughout the world's deserts, in often dangerous conditions. This book, five years in the making, is sort of a culmination of his work to date, and it's lovely. Thankfully, Martin's as interested in the inhabitants of these far-flung and strangely shifting lands as he is in the stark beauty of the environments themselves. None of the commentary is hackneyed or written with postcolonial prejudices; on the contrary, it's quite clear the long-haired and adventurous Martin wishes he could be living in the desert himself. If you think this is going to be all a bunch of pictures of sand in various formations, you are sorely mistaken. Here are breathtaking images of mineral-encrusted salt lakes, strange craggy rocks, beautiful cacti, and people with weather-beaten faces who live in trailer homes, tents and medieval towns. --Mike McGonigal

About the Author

Michael Martin has long been acknowledged as the leading desert photographer of our time, having spent the past twenty years exploring the African deserts and finally the world's remotest places. His most recent book, Deserts of Africa, has sold over 50,000 copies internationally.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 371 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500511942
• ISBN-13: 978-0500511947
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 12 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,104,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful photography, March 1, 2005

By 

B. Hirsch (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deserts of the Earth (Hardcover)

How exciting is that. I remember Michael Martin from his first slide shows in Germany. He started traveling to Africa as a very young man on and presented slide shows of his adventures in the community and city he lived in. Later he gave slide shows all over Germany and than he published books and calendars. I have always been facscinated with his stories and the quality of the picture he takes. And with his studies in geology he provides very interesting background information about the regions that he travels to. I am very excited to see that his books are now offered now in English. I highly recommend to pick up a book and see for yourself.
It will take you into a different world, a wonderful world - Enjoy.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for desk travellers, October 24, 2005

By 

Boscarino Angelo (Milano, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deserts of the Earth (Hardcover)

The pictures are excellents and the subject is very intriguing.
I'd like knew (and see) something more about the process of doing the book, traveling, taking pictures, meeting people; more backstage, in a word.