ISTMO

With stunning aerials by internationally acclaimed photographer Ange Bourda, a new book featuring unique views of Central American sights, including volcanoes, beaches and rainforests, will debut in Guatemala in January 2009.

Titled ISTMO (Isthmus), the colorful hardcover book contains 160 remarkable photos by Bourda, a widely published French photographer who considers Guatemala his adoptive home. In his own words, the accomplishment of this book has meant “the discovery of the extraordinary and unique region, with resources never before available and presented across revealing images that impose and confirm the height and depth of a Central America that is revealed as a new world in the dawn.”

The book reflects Central America as a region, integrated geographically, culturally and economically, in which all of its countries share a united future throughout their similarities.
The objective is to show a new vision of the region, including its natural, material and spiritual richness, and to give the isthmus an international relevance never seen before. The visual creativity and rich writing form the pillars of this exquisite work.

In addition to Bourda’s photography, the book contains narrative written by Rubén Nájera, an award-winning Guatemalan writer whose work has been published in Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba and France. María Isabel Quezada designed the book; Quezada, a graduate of Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, handled design and graphical production of several coffee-table books. Evelina González de Herrera was in charge of general coordination and executive production.

The book contains five chapters:
1. At Dawn: introduces the reader to the adventure of the book.
2. The Great Perspective: presents great sights from the isthmus itself.
3. Memoirs of Fire: photographs inspired by volcanoes in the region.
4. Between Two Seas: photos of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, rivers and lakes.
5. Inhabiting the Earth: how people have developed the earth in order to subsist.

Proceeds from ISTMO benefits the Compañero en Salud, an NGO which helps bring health and medical care to people in extreme poverty in Guatemala. Since its beginning in 2004, Compañero en Salud has helped over 20,000 patients receive medical treatment. The publication was made possible in part by TACA airlines.

For more information contact Evelina González or Yazmín de Pérez at: 2366-1872 or 5460-8666 or email: yazymau@hotmail.com.