Two Mountains

Kirjan Two Mountains (2006) on kirjoittanut Burkhardt Balthasar. Kirjan kieli on englanti, ja sen on kustantanut Lars Muller Publishers. Kirja on laajuudeltaan 96 sivua ja se on sidottu.

At the initiative of the photographer Balthasar Burkhardt, the latter's Japanese colleague explores the Swiss Alps. The artist Naoya Hatakeyama captures the beauty of the mountain landscape with his camera, but he also follows the trail of his countrymen with an ironic eye. Burkhardt, for his part, discovers the Japanese forests and mountains and coaxes mythic visual resonances from them in his somber black-and-white photographs. The two artists permit one other to turn the gaze of the stranger on their own familiar environments. Without preconceptions, they capture not only the beauty of the mountains, but also cultural chasms that elude the camera in their own countries. Burkhardt and Hatakeyama are among the leading exponents of the art of photography in their respective countries. This project, which enjoyed the support of the Swiss cultural foundation Pro Helvetia, is being presented in exhibitions in Japan and Switzerland. The book employs the hallmarks of the two different cultures and embraces the work of both artists, in Japanese and English.