In a Desert Land

Neil Folberg's images of the wilderness of Israel, Egypt, and Jordan are as triumphant as Ansel Adams's depiction of the American West -- with the added dimension of color. These places are among the most beautiful on earth -- the deserts of the Middle East, the Dead Sea coast, the ancient splendor of Luxor, the pyramids at Giza, and the eternal presence of Jerusalem itself -- and their beauty is all the more intense because of their rich historical and religious association. Breathtaking folio-sized reproductions of Folberg's Ektachrome originals capture sacred vistas, images of awe, serenity, and ravishing beauty: the Oasis of Ain Umm-Ahmed, the view from the summit of Mount Sinai, a Bedouin orchard in the midst of a desert wadi, the dusty life of village and town, the Temple Mount, and the Wailing Wall. Accompanying these photographs are Neil Folberg's delightful firsthand narratives recounting the humorous and harrowing adventures of a photographer in a politically troubled and naturally formidable land. While Folberg entreats only that readers follow him into the landscape of his vision and derive pleasure wandering and wondering, the photographs of In a Desert Land -- celebrations of beauty both sacred and natural -- are in fact moving prayers and persuasive arguments for sanity and peace in a reckless region and a volatile world. "Folberg captures with his camera to create -- the awe-inspiring configurations of nature, the sweeping vistas, the colors... Although one may never walk in these desert lands, one is drawn into the images as one is drawn to an altar -- as a place to seek peace". -- Artweek