See the World Beautiful

Book excerpt: Anne Menke has traveled the world on assignment for the likes of Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, and Conde Nast Traveler, usually in search of the perfect environment to shoot a fashion spread. During her extensive travels, she quickly discovered that these environments themselves are the origins of much of the fashion we see on the runways today. In See the World Beautiful, Menke turns her camera away from professional photo shoots to the local populations, which are equally as compelling and stunning as the highly crafted shoots for major magazines, copilling an incredible record of people and places, exploring the roots and inspiration of today's fashion and style while simultaneously documenting the rich culture of the locations she visits. Texts by colleague luminaries Tommy Hilfiger, Julia Chaplin, and Andrew Niccol, in addition to the author's own introduction, explain how fashion meets culture in ethnic populations of Latin America, Europe, Asia, and North America. This unique, sensitive, and insightful work is itself the perfect intersection of art and fashion photography and showcases a story of beauty at risk of being lost in translation. Limited to just 110 copies, this deluxe edition is boxed, and comes with a signed and numbered print."