Madagascar

While I have to admit that Mr. Barbieri is an excellent photographer, with long experience in the world of fashion, I took strong objection to his way of portraying Madagascar. Some magnificent photographs of the world of nature, some portraits, and a few pictures of unusual objects are interspersed with what can only be described as homo-erotic photographs. I have nothing against that either, a Mapplethorpe is a necessary part of modern culture. What I DO object to is such photographs being in any way called "a picture of Madagascar" with absolutely no personal agenda mentioned. This is totally dishonest. Thus, this is a very dishonest book. Producing self-indulgent romantic fantasies is fine if the audience is aware of what is being done, but to pass off such stuff as being "about" a poor country inhabited by hospitable, cheerful people with intricate customs and traditions, people who are extremely modest in dress and behavior for the most part---this is an exercise in exploitation. At the very least we should have been told how these pictures were made. In colonial times, many writers and artists produced romantic works about far off colonies. These were then used to show how "happy and contented" the people were under colonial rule. In the introduction, reference is made to Paradise ! Give me a break ! What is the agenda here ? If someone says, "Come on, man, it's just a great collection of pictures." then they have failed to grasp the cultural dialogues of the last 40 years, they cannot see how people with technology and media access can so easily exploit those without. I absolutely don't recommend this book.