Wim Wenders: Instant Stories

by Wim Wender

Globetrotting filmmaker Wim Wenders always takes his old panorama camera with him, using it whenever the sheer wealth of what he sees and the impression it leaves on him breaks the normal scale of things. Infinite landscapes, endless horizons, deserts, and mountain ranges overwhelm by their emptiness and silence, street fronts in Havana, Houston, Berlin, or Jerusalem offer deep insights into the shallows of civilization. Wenders' photographs are pictures of a world almost devoid of humans, a natural or man-made world viewed from a distance. They shed light on the many guises the surface of the earth dons and attest to Wenders' contemplative and amazed gaze. This gaze, of course, didn't stop at September 11 and delivered haunting photos of Ground Zero taken shortly after the attack. With poetic comments by the artist on all the pictures, the book is both a portrait of the world as encountered by the photographer and a portrait of the photographer as reflected in his vision of the world.

Genres: Photography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Darin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had admittedly never heard of Mr Wim Wenders before this book. But I am glad to have gotten to get to know him through his accounts of his decade on the road making his movies, & his polaroids documenting his travels.

It was a nice reminder (to me) of the importance of creating. Why tangible collections, making things, and art should be done without the aid of a screen every once in a while. We exist and so should our creations.

[I only question why certain photos of his were chosen to be two page highlights over others that were seemingly more interesting]