I have bought one of the most extraordinary travel photo books. 9,000 photos of a current and vanishing Asia.

On travel photos. The average photo of Kevin Kelly’s is not as “artful” as the equivalent from - for instance - a Magnum photographer (such as Steve McCurry) but this is more than outweighed by the breadth of photographs and its glimpses of the “ordinary”.

When you think about the ordinary you can look at the work of - say - Martin Parr looking at the life of typical British people; their food, their culture, their breakfasts. Or, in the US, deceptively normally, or artfully plain work of William Eggleston. Eggleston influenced Parr and many of those who came after (see image below for glimpse). Touches of Kelly’s photos capture these influences and his look at design, clothing, doors and the like. There is a touch of the pattern book. It does not step into the kitsch or the high (?)  art of Eggleston but it steps into an important area of documentary, nevertheless.

In the US, there is the work of Diane Arbus for those who are more off-mainstream, or Robert Frank in the Americans. Or further back, Doreathea Lange. Or in another way, Cartier-Bresson. These capture the human portrait and way of an older American life. I see echoes of these in Kelly’s work.

I view all of these photographers as important in the history of visual art and photography and on their influence on culture (partly because of the artists and creatives they influence).  I think this history is understudied. 

In parallel, you have documentary of culture and people as the world has globalised.  This is perhaps less serious for art collectors but no less important for our understanding of the world. 

Kevin Kelly to my mind has photographed perhaps one of the single largest collection of visuals of Asia by a singular individual person over this time. (Selection below, found at Petal Pixel also including essay on his books)

A professional travel photographer such as Steve McCurry has perhaps a wider range of images. I would suggest Magnum and “professional” travel photographers are perhaps more artful in their final selections.

But, Kelly has specifically sought out a vanishing Asia. He has looked for places in people with traditional clothing, clothes and language. And so, in capturing stories, ideas and documentary his books are equal, or arguably, in advance of these travel photographers - as Kelly is capturing a different set of ideas.

He observes that the first items to vanish are traditional costumes, then architecture then music, then food then language. 

He notes while often beautiful, this way of traditional living is often undesirable.  It’s bad for health (indoor fires, poor heating and cooling). It’s bad for liberty and choice. Ornate clothing and jewellery restrict movement and freedom.

He suggest despite the pollution, neglect and chaos of cities, the transformational leap in opportunities for wealth and choice has driven 1 billion Asians to leave their traditional ways to join the cities. Exchanging beautiful homes built by their own hands, organic food grown themselves, dressed in fabrics made by their own hands too.

He ponders that he too would make the same shift. Kelly is a futurist and technologist. Arguably, also one of our great future thinkers  (as befits the founder of Wired, a curator of the Whole Earth Review, creator of cool tools). Perhaps, rarely and counterintuitively, Kelly is keen on remembering these old ways even as he is a supporter of modernisation.

The future never leaves the past behind; it carries the old forward. To steer this future, we need to recall and employ the richness of the past. … I made this book to help transmit this ancient richness into the future.

I agree with much of Kelly’s thinking. His pictures not only tell stories - as mine have done in, for instance, a part of Indonesia even Kelly - has not yet visited, eg Sulawesi - but they record designs, and patterns and ways of life. And with an eye for this, the book is something more than simple travel photos, part pattern book, part history, Kelly documents something more than a vanishing beauty.

Almost $300 dollars / GBP200+ for the collection but worth it, there I think will only be around 5,000 copies and over half (maybe most) have sold already. Amazon link here, but will come from third party sellers if any have stock.