HOT - LIFE IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK
Thijs Heslenfeld drove a four-wheel-drive bushcamper all the way through South Australia and Northern Territory, to shoot for this photo book. Ten thousand kilometres of dusty tracks and dirt roads, coast to coast through one of the hottest, most remote and extreme places on our planet.
'Travelling in the outback means you're alone most of the time, and solely responsible yourself. If you get bitten by a snake, you'll most probably die. And if your vehicle rolls over, chances are you won't be found for the next couple of days, simple as that. But in fact it is exactly this simplicity and responsibility that brings me much closer to nature, and to myself.'
'Hot' shows the outback in a way even the local cowboys don't see it. As Thijs puts it himself: 'My images are always about life and the incredible beauty of it. This book is a showcase of everything I met on my way that touched me - people, wildlife, insects or beautiful skies. It is not a romanticised image of what the outback could very well have been. It is a picture of what it in fact is: a vast, inhospitable and beautiful piece of our planet.'
Heslenfeld is an alchemist, transmuting the blood, sweat and grit of the outback into something spectacular. Close-ups of human and animal detritus, dead bird's claws, a bloodied calf and dumped tyres take on a magical quality.
Wanderlust Magazine (UK, English - PDF)
I was impressed and surprised at the same time. Lost for words actually. This was so totally different from any photo book I had ever held in my hands. Very uncompromising, just like the country it portraits. It captures the harshness of it in high definition. It makes you not only see it, it makes you feel it, at times in an unsettling way.
Australia Travel Secrets (Australia, English)
Zowel 'Hot - Life in the Australian outback' als 'Cold - Sailing to Antarctica' zijn boeken waar een grote mate van liefde en eigenzinnigheid uit spreekt. Liefde voor het leven, liefde voor de natuur, liefde voor het mooie beeld.
cadoc.nl (Dutch)
The flat, distant horizon and spectacular dawn hues are beautifully rendered in his latest book, Hot. Crossing the centre of Australia from north to south, Thijs brings to life some of the continent's most remote areas. While the scenery is undeniably spectacular, it's the people who give the outback its character and he captures them honestly in their environment.
Outback Magazine (Australia, English - PDF)
Thijs' photography is extremely good, he captures the things you would see and mixes this with the things you'd probably miss.
ephotozine.com (UK, English)
Published by Oost West Thijs Best, English txt, hardcover, 188 pages, ISBN 9789081247023, price € 39,50
'Hot' is available from amazon.co.uk, bol.com (The Netherlands) and cosmox.be (Belgium). Please note some of these sites will tell you the book is in Dutch. That is not correct; all text is in English!
You can also order here on this website; ordering is quick and secure via PayPal - we ship with TNT Priority services. Please allow 5 days for delivery in Europe and 5-10 days outside Europe. All books are sealed & packed in top quality Multiwell cartons - we guarantee undamaged arrival!
Click here if you are ordering from within The Netherlands (free shipping!)
Click here if you are ordering from anywhere else on the planet
The bestseller (reprinted twice) on a 2 month sailing trip all the way from South America to South Africa, past some of the most spectacular places on Antarctica.
Antarctica has become the subject of countless photographic books. But
this one stands out from the crowd. (...) Dutch photographer Thijs Heslenfeld
has succeeded where I feel others have failed. Cold isn't a sugar-coated
portrait of the continent; it looks bleak, capricious and genuinely wild. (...)
I've never been lucky enough to go to Antarctica, but after seeing this book, I
feel I've got a little bit closer.
Wanderlust Magazine, UK
'
Cold' is a triumph. (...) His images have a subtle wonder, an element of danger, that almost mystical element, which is present in the early photographs of Polar exploration, exemplified by Frank Hurley, official photographer on Shackleton's ill-fated 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
...one of Europe's most accomplished travel photographers...
PhotoIcon, UK
..Every step of the journey is visualised with brilliant photography. The book has few words - it really doesn't need them. What we are treated with is a collection of shots that show life and death, pleasure and pain, beauty and the beast. We see terrific action on board the ship, superb baron landscapes, wildlife. The photography is technical perfect, the images are stunning.
Even if you have no desire to go to the edges of the world, or normally get enthused
about travel books, here's one that will probably make a difference. Highly
recommended.
ePHOTOzine.com, UK
Who would have thought the cold could be so beautiful? In this stunning
collection of images, Thijs Heslenfeld has created a portal to a land only
intrepid souls venture to, and he's done it with creative flair and a sensitive
eye.
The Sea Magazine, UK
Cold is a successful book. It is beautiful; the images are simply stunning.They
present a slightly unusual view of Antarctica, unusual in that they don't offer
up photos of fluffy penguins, nor do they conform to the uniformity of the
stark images used to depict global warming.
Professional Photographer, UK
Packed with striking images of everything from the boats Heslenfeld sailed in
and crew who manned them to towering icebergs and breathtaking wildlife shots,
this hardback is a source of delight and inspiration.
Digital Photographer Magazine, UK
A superb photobook!
Traditional Boats & Tall Ships Magazine, UK
Published by Oost West Thijs Best, English txt, hardcover, 188 pages, ISBN 9789081247016, price € 34,50
'Cold' is available from amazon.co.uk, bol.com (The Netherlands) and cosmox.be (Belgium). Please note some of these sites will tell you the book is in Dutch. That is not correct; all text is in English!
You can also order here on this website; ordering is quick and secure via PayPal - we ship with TNT Priority services. Please allow 5 days for delivery in Europe and 5-10 days outside Europe. All books are sealed & packed in top quality Multiwell cartons - we guarantee undamaged arrival!
Click here if you are ordering from within The Netherlands
Click here if you are ordering from anywhere else on the planet
'Men at work' portrays men from all over the world in their working environment. For a few book reviews, check out photobook.com, moorsmagazine.com (Dutch) and cadoc.nl (Dutch) or have a look at this preview of the book (PDF).
Thijs worked for almost 20 years on this project. The results are now published in this beautiful book, launched together with a solo exhibition in Amsterdam's Melkweg Gallery.
'Men at work' won a Red Dot Award in the category product design.
Published by Oost West Thijs Best, 80 pages, hardback with screenprinted cover, English
txt, ISBN 9789081247009, price € 17,50
The book is available in local Dutch and Belgian bookstores and via bol.com and cosmox.be.
You can also order on this website: click here if you live in The Netherlands or here if you live somewhere else on the planet. We use Paypal; if you don't have a PayPal account simply choose the option to pay with your creditcard.
'Au!' documents life deep in the Amazon rainforest in Surinam. Marroons and indians have survived here for centuries, but their lives are now being threatened by the pollution caused by tens of thousands of illegal gold prospectors. Gallery of images here and preview of the book here.
Published by KIT Publishers, Hardcover, 200 pages, Dutch txt, ISBN 9789460221743, price € 34,50