Customer Reviews

Tibet

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I purchased this book from.... because I was interested in seeing just what an old Russian FT-2 panoramic camera could do. That is the type of camera Poncar used to take the primarily landscape photographs shot in a variety of areas of Tibet shown in this book. Frankly, I was amazed at the quality. They are superb though one can tell these were not made with large format equipment. The reproduction is excellent. The really wonderful thing about this book is that the photographs have "heart and soul"--that somewhat intangible quality that indicates the photographer was not just concerned about a technically good photo but was concerned with the subjective quality and feeling of the photos. Poncar must have really resonated with his subjects (landscapes) at an intuitive level, and that comes across. Very very rarely do I look at a book of photographs and say, "Wow." Yes, I actually said, "Wow" out loud. That surprised me. I said it more than once as I turned the pages and viewed the various photographs. I purchased "Tibet" sight unseen which was a risk considering the high cost of the book; however, it turned out to be a true serendipity. To say I am pleased with Poncar's "Tibet" would be an understatement. I personally find this to be a wondeful book worth every cent paid.

With Tibet, teNeues has approached an apotheosis in landscape photography publishing. I know that may sound a tad overheated but really, you have to see this book to believe it. First off there is the unique format of the book which is nineteen inches lengthwise and nine inches wide. This design was selected to accommodate Poncar's panoramic images which each seem to encompass hundreds of miles of horizontal space. (Thus in numerous photographs several discrete weather systems are clearly visible!) Then there is the uncompromising quality of the paper, ink and binding. Everything about the feel of the book and the printing of text and Poncar's indescribably majestic photographs is outstanding. Thirdly, there are the photographs themselves. Another reviewer mentioned that Poncar seems to resonate on an intuitive level with the Tibetan Plateau. I would agree with that observation but perhaps go even further: Poncar seems to have become a part of this immense landscape, to have effortlessly merged with it. So that what we see represented on every page feels as if it existed timelessly, completely independent of point of view. But of course this vastness which seems to present itself so 'unselfconsciously' in the pages of Tibet does require interpretation. And we do indeed know that a genius has been at work by virtue of Poncar's unobtrusive yet highly effective organisation of these massive visual fields into compositions of great subtly and grace. And by virtue of his imaginative, highly skilled work with colour, contrast, and most especially, nuance. For despite the immense scale of the subject matter, it is the incredible detail in the 'texture' of the imagery as well as the nuance of its tone that ultimately is so impressive. Finally, there is the heart-felt, minimalist text by the photographer as he somewhat whimsically comments on his reproductions and a splendid introductory essay by John Keay who orients us to the geographical areas examined photographically in the pages to come. A wee bit of the written word offered as ballast perhaps in a volume that is so visually arresting, it hardly needs accompaniment.

Jaroslav Poncar is the first European crossing Tibet completely from the East to the West. Inside this book with such extra large size, he captures the landscape of Tibet in B/W and colour in panoramic format. Something special is that the equipment used by the photographer is a Russian FT-2 panorama camera. Although this model is a little bit old (dating back to 1958-1965), you will be surprised by the sharpness and quality of the images.

Without the panoramic format, the natural landscape of Tibet cannot become more real and vivid, and create such visual impact. I am deeply impressed by the texture of the mountains, the clouds, the land, the water, etc.

It is also like a punch to the photo-equipment-maniac. Photography are made from photographer's heart and eyes, not by the most advanced camera.

Having finished my trip to Tibet in Sep2001, I find this book special. It will be a very special memorial item if you have been to, and want to go to Tibet. Enjoy !

The other reviewers here can write better than I can. I got this book based on their reviews mainly.

The photographer is an extremely strong outdoorsman and trekker just to be able to get to these places

in the mid-1980's that he got to and succeed at taking any sort of decent pictures, let alone pictures

of the quality he has taken. This makes what he did here even more amazing.

Every picture jumps out at you. Most of them left me spellbound at just how amazing our world is. You

see several different weather patterns at once in one picture, far-lost remains of kingdoms and cultures

so remote and distant in time from our own as to seem almost alien, and these super-size landscapes,

terrible and majestic in their beauty.

To top it off, the photographer has a way of setting up pictures of natural features in Tibet that are sacred

to Buddhism and Hinduism, but doing it in such a way that it makes sense to the observer why those who practice

those religions would hold these places sacred. Difficult to explain but it really truly comes through.