(The cover picture depicts a rusted wreck of a 1948 Fleetline Chevrolet near Calvinia)Not just another lavish coffee table book devoted to stunning photographs, but a publication of photographic brilliance and narrative humour. (Review by Caroline Smart)
The moment you feel its weight and get lost in the cover photograph of Obie Oberholzer‘s Diesel & Dust, you know that this isn’t just another lavish coffee table book devoted to stunning photographs. Once you’ve read his fascinating foreword – presented in bold font reflecting the author’s muscular and forthright approach to his life and his art – the book lives, breathes, and sometimes shouts, the artistic brilliance of its creator.
Justifiably hailed a best-selling and world-renowned photographer, Oberholzer is also a gifted raconteur and the reader gets an insight into his passion – travelling and remote landscapes – which reflect the “diesel and dust” of the title. Amid the superb images, he relates his experiences as he meets interesting people along the way.
Oberholzer freely admits that before he “became a photographer and a visual thug”, he wanted to be a singer in a rock band and that he stole the title of the book from the 1987 album by an Australian rock band called Midnight Oil. As a youngster, he taught himself how to praise all the things around him with his eyes and his photographic career started in the square format of his mother’s Kodak twin lens reflex camera in Pisa in Italy,. Around this time, he maintains that he discovered what he calls his “travelling partner” – a sense of humour. This was evident in the fact that one of his first photographic efforts was to place the Leaning Tower of Pisa upright which meant that all the surrounding buildings became lopsided!
This sense of humour is prevalent in his work and each page of Diesel & Dust will produce at least a smile, and often a laugh, at his humorous commentary. The book journeys through South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Emirate of Al Sharjah, Namibia and Botswana.
The most splendid photographs are those which capture the vastness of the landscape, particularly in the desert areas of Egypt while a calm moonlit shot of Cleopatra’s Bath reflects a sensual sensitivity. There are memorable images of rock formations and vast landscapes as well as dramatic photographs such as a massive wave breaking on the Sea Point Esplanade and the light effects of a fire at the foot of tall eucalyptus trees which would make any theatre lighting designer green with envy.
Many photographs depict lonely and forgotten buildings but Oberholzer imbues them with new energy. He captures the vibrant colours of life in Ethiopia and his portraits include subjects both famous and humble. Two of my favourites are a close-up of a much be-ringed hand of a flute player and a slushy muddy road in Namibia which reminds me of the Kenya of my youth.
Lock into Oberholzer’s passion for diesel and dust. As he says: “In Africa, when you are just about to know, you realize that the further you go the less you know.”
Published by Jacana Media, Diesel & Dust retails at R360 – a steal at the price - direct from http://www.jacana.co.za or at quality bookstores. ISBN: 9781431401109 – Caroline Smart
Other books by Obie Oberholzer include ”The Hotazel Years, The Raconteur Road, Round the Bend” and “Long Ago Way”. “Diesel & Dust” is his tenth book.
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