12 books of Christmas: ‘Visions of Paradise’

My new personal hero may be Bronwen Latimer, who created a photographic escape hatch for these gloomy days when the economic news is as overcast as SoCal skies on a stormy day.

Latimer asked National Geographic photographers where, in their view, was heaven on earth. The result is this luscious book, “Visions of Paradise” (National Geographic, $35), which takes a reader to some predictable places (Hawaii), some not so much (Nebraska) and some I’d never heard of (Lago Ypoa National Park in Paraguay).

The book is divided into Land, Water and Air, and although I’d say that California is grossly under-represented, I’m happy to report that Kansas (for which I feel great affinity) is not. (It helps that NG photographer Jim Richardson was born and raised there, although he’s not the only Kansas lover in the crowd.)

Some of these photos will take your breath away: Medford Taylor’s picture taken in Sierra Chincua Butterfly Sanctuary in Mexico; Chris Johns’ wind-blown lion, photographed in South Africa; David Butow’s shot of Lower Manhattan, absent the World Trade Center; and Michael Yamashita’s pictures of Jiuzhaigou, China.

It is comforting, somehow, to find a respite from reality in reality, not the kind manufactured for low-rent TV but something created not by our hands.

— Catharine Hamm, Times Travel editor

Click here for “12 books” posts.

[Top photo: National Geographic online store]

[Bottom photo: Hot lava from Mount Etna pours through a channel between two beds of hardened lava. (Sicily, 2004); Carsten Peter from "Visions of Paradise."]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 6:00 am by Catharine Hamm and is filed under Africa & Middle East, Alaska, Arizona, Asia, California, Caribbean, Central America, China, East Coast, Europe, Family & Kids, Global, Great Britain, Hawaii, Islands & Beaches, Lake Tahoe & Eastern Sierra, Latin America & Caribbean, Mexico, Midwestern States, Monterey Peninsula, Napa Valley, National Parks, New Mexico, New York, Northern California, Outdoors & Adventure, Pacific & Australia, Pacific Northwest, Palm Springs, Polar Regions, Rocky Mountain States, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Sierra Nevada, Ski & Winter, Sky watching, South America, Southern States, Spring, Summer, Travel Photography, Western Canada, Winter, Yosemite National Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.