Confrontier- Kai Wiedenhofer

Photo: Kai Wiedenhofer

Just what I needed, another must have book. And Confrontier by Kai Wiedenhofer is just that! A beautifully edited and produced work on the monumental physical barriers throughout the world meant to separate various peoples. No angry diatribes here on the evil these walls support and project, but neither are there any Koudelkian metaphysical reflections commenting solely on their effect on the... landscape. Interesting to note both the similarities and differences between how the two look, and feel.

Like the Berlin Wall of yore, I now realize that these formidable structures are more obstacles than impenetrable barriers, and that eventually, each and every one comes written with its own due date. Large scale documentary projects such as this remind us all of the inherent power of photography, the power to preserve the fleeting present for posterity- and should also serve to remind that photography itself is not immune to the ravages of time...

 More on Confrontier here, and here...