Signed, Hans Silvester - Les Habits de la Nature - 2007

Exceptionally signed copy by Hans Silvester on the title page, unique and unavailable in signed copies. The original edition has become rare even in unsigned copies (not to be confused with the 2013 reissue). 168 pages and approximately 150 color photographs, most full-page outside the text, with an introductory text by Hans Silvester titled 'The Art of the Body.' Solid brown hardcover binding with the title embossed in yellow characters on the spine and illustrated dust jacket.

To view the photographic series in full screen, double-click on a photograph, then you can return to the standard display at any time.

Between 2002 and 2007, Hans Silvester undertook more than 12 consecutive trips to this part of East Africa, which is the cradle of humanity, and the books he created from these photographic campaigns are all different.

From all his journeys in the Omo Valley (Ethiopia), Hans Silvester brought back stunning photographs that highlight the art of body painting and the natural attire of the peoples of Omo.

This book is not a report but a poem in images, whose theme is man in the state of nature and within nature. The desire to beautify oneself, to transform reality into a game of seduction, is at the heart of these photographs. Here, a face whitened or a breast sprinkled with stars, there, a painted torso or a head crowned with grass. In response to the abundance of colors and the diversity of patterns, nature's richness—branches, bark, fruits, flowers, or seeds—serves as material to dress, decorate, and magnify the bodies. Far from our modern world, in the lands of the Mursi and the Surma in Ethiopia, the adornments, captured in all their freshness and originality by Hans Silvester's talent, are an important element of life.

These paintings demonstrate complete freedom of creation, and there are never any repetitions. If there is a reference to these body paintings, it is in the expression of a certain mimetism with nature, with animals, as Hans Silvester writes.

Hans Silvester was born in 1938 in Lörrach, in southern Germany near the Swiss border, and he lives in Provence, France, a region to which he has also dedicated many books. His favorite themes include ecology and environmental protection. He is internationally renowned for his long-term work with the tribes of southern Ethiopia—the peoples of Omo—documenting their ancient customs just before civilization caught up with them. In 2022, Hans Silvester was awarded the Albert Kahn Prize for his entire body of work.

Book from my personal collection, in excellent condition (like new), carefully preserved. Shipping is very securely protected and international postal tracking is guaranteed. In case of multiple purchases, combined shipping is possible with a refund of any excess postal fees paid via Paypal.

1.5 kg. without packaging