Karel Tomeï Boeken

Luchtfoto's van dorpen, steden en andere locaties in Nederland.

Curacao is a magical island. The hundred thousand tourists who annually visit this small piece of the Caribbean will certainly agree. It all seems so hospitable and inviting from the air and from the water that you can hardly wait to set foot on land. That is a big compliment for such a relatively small island. For if we are honest, Curacao, with a surface area of 444 square kilometres, can hardly be considered more than a speck on the globe and, apart from the azure blue seas which wash its shores, has only one major site worth seeing: the historic centre of Willemstad, which was placed by UNESCO on the World Heritage list in 1997. Aerial photographer Karel Tomei, who has visited and photographed so many countries, was initially troubled by this fierce attack on his retina. The colours exploded in front of me, he explains. What s more, he was also astounded by the changes the island had undergone since his previous visit, now more than forty years ago. Then everything was still very pure. It had the simple joy of a developing country. There are still traces to be found of that poverty, such as poor houses and ramshackle fishing huts. And a nasty smell still hangs round the refinery. But the island is indisputably more prosperous. "

Large format and super thick book with 350 artistic aerial photographs of the Netherlands, interspersed with text contributions from sixteen famous Dutch celebrities. The photos show the Netherlands as a rigidly organized, manicured country where even the breakers' yards seem neat and tidy. Ditches, roads, dykes and lakes form the contours of the photo compositions, in which man also plays a role. The photographs are pinpoint sharp, with a strong color construction. The photos are, without exception, remarkable and are captured in a clear, logical lay-out. Captions are handily arranged at the back of the book in rows of photo blocks. This book, weighing 4.3 kilograms, is a masterpiece by the photographer and a wonderful attention getter.

Previously unpublished work by Holland's best-known aerial photographer, Karel Tomei. Humorous and not what you would normally expect. For spectacular and surprising photographs are combined with quotations from works by Dutch writers, cabaret artists, poets and actors.The photography shows the Netherlands in more than two hundred aerial photographs. He made shots from an aircraft which he then arranged according to theme, city and province. The viewer is taken along busy beaches, suburbs, churches, car graveyards, winter landscapes, harbours, rivers, other aircraft and lots more. Taut compositions characterise the razor-sharp photographs printed in an oblong format; these are alternated in a no-nonsense layout with poems and text fragments. The photographer is a recognized specialist, whose aerial photographs have appeared in countless publications. The abundant photographs are of the highest quality and do indeed show the Netherlands as it is seldom seen.