Photobook series masterfully chronicles Asia

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this set of three photobooks from Asia Unique illustrates that fact nicely. Hands, Doors, and Catch are a three-part collection of images of the ordinary made extraordinary. Captivating, rich, thought-provoking images are the common thread among these three small tomes, each of which features an array of images about its namesake word, masterfully capturing the tempo of daily life in parts of Asia. Words are few and the images powerful, interspersed with the sparest of quotes from Indira Gandhi to Confucius.

Hands chronicles the hands of humanity at all ages and conditions, from young, soft skin to worn, wrinkled hands, from teenagers with chipped nail polish to hands finely decorated, adorned, and ready for a special occasion, from humble hands clasped in prayer and contemplation, to those hard at work tending to daily chores. Doors shows the passageways into apartment buildings, W.C.’s, palaces, temples, and more, with vivid colors and images, taking a viewer on a trip down main streets and back alleyways throughout Asia.

While Hands and Doors are interesting, I personally find Catch to be the most poignant of the three. In much of the western world, fish are not seen on a daily basis as we have become more and more out of touch with the realities of our ecosystem and food chain. This peek into small-scale and subsistence fishing throughout Asia is a particularly powerful, touching, and poignant reminder of everyone’s dependence on our threatened natural systems. While the book does not mention environmental issues, the images reminded this reader of the dire state of many of our marine fisheries, from the Pacific Trash Vortex twice the size of Texas to the seriously depleted and overstressed global fish stocks. One can easily see how many people, including the ones featured in Catch, will face extreme challenges in daily subsistence if we do not act quickly and decisively to protect our oceans and climate.

This series reminds all of us to take a minute and ponder the small daily things in life and find the beauty and majesty in every snapshot of life, appreciating the daily beauty of an interesting doorway or the worn, aged hands of an elder.