A short review of my book. Reviewed by Dr. Berhe Habtegiorgis

Eritrea – Colors in Motion. That is the title of a book of pictures by Issayas Tesfamariam and Philip Safarik. The book presents hundreds of pictures in 120 pages.The pictures are put together in a well-coordinated and seamless flow presenting sets of pictures on similar subjects and concepts. There is no narration in the book. That is left to the viewer, and it is not difficult to do.What makes this book unique is that the pictures are about scenes and places we know but we hardly notice. Landmark scenes such as Harnet Avenue are conspicuous by their absence. There are historic sites, places of worship, captivating sceneries, camels, children, yes lots of children, and “Medeber” (Caravanseraglio), the place where junk is turned into treasure. For me and children in my neighborhood that grew up playing soccer in the open area behind Medeber, the picture has a nostalgic effect. 

I am sure everybody will have a picture to associate with.A brief biosketch of the producers of this book reveals that it is the result of combined talent of two specialists in the area of photography.

Issayas Tesfamariam is an Eritrean and a fellow Dehaier first and an aspiring young man in the area of film making and writing. His research into the life of Kidane Kiflu which resulted in the article in Dehai and his DVD on the literary conference in Eritrea are examples of some of his work. In his day job, he is head of the microfilm department at the Hoover Institution, Stanford, California and teaches at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.Philip Safarik is a filmmaker and editor. He is a graduate of the Academy of Arts, San Francisco, California. In 2004, he won the Best Documentary Award at the 2003 DIGIT Media Exposition in New York.

It is distributed by Lulu publishing company. Here is their URL:

http://www.lulu.com/content/889300

Berhe Habte-Giorgis