At some point during every trip that I take to Iceland I entertain the fantasy of moving to a small coastal town and opening a little bookshop. But reality always wins out when I remember what Icelandic winters are like. Photographer Isley Reust overcame those qualms and made the big leap from living in Los Angeles to the remote fjord town of Ìsafjörður in far north western Iceland. Reust, who has both German and US citizenship, found that her life in Los Angeles was not what she wanted. Reust said that she always knew she’d end up in Iceland as she’d flown over it many times. She now makes her living now as a travel and wildlife photographer and shares her work showcasing her beautiful country on Instagram. In the charming short video below she explains how it all came to pass.
Regular visitors to TBTP know how I feel about a clever infographic, so you won’t be surprised that I was intrigued by Information Graphic Visionaries. This new book series celebrates historical figures who dramatically changed the way data is organized and communicated. Each book in the series examines in-depth the work of activist Emma Willard; statistician and founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale; and scientist Étienne-Jules Marey, and their continued impact on the way we understand and depict information. The team behind the Kickstarter funded series includes RJ Andrews, author of Info We Trust, art director and designer Lorenzo Fanton, and an expert team of data visualization researchers and professors.
Emma Willard: Maps of History explores how Willard changed how we view time, her inventions defining chronology for millions of Americans. Florence Nightingale: Mortality & Health Diagrams looks at how her data stories persuaded royals and generals to adopt health reforms, preventing thousands of needless deaths. Étienne-Jules Marey: The Graphic Method, La Méthode Graphique was the first book about data graphics, and is being translated to English for the first time.
The books were compiled by researching collections around the world, creating complete visual catalogues of work comprising everything from sketches to final drawings, and along the way discovering long-lost graphics and new material. Archival photography has allowed the reproduction of these findings to be printed to scale, revealing details often overlooked.
The Information Graphic Visionaries series has been launched on Kickstarter, looking for $46,225 backing in order to publish and is already halfway to its goal.
I nearly did a Master’s degree in Geography, but the constant battles over map projections put me off. This clever video by Randall Munroe helps to explain some of the most popular options. You don’t have to be a map geek to enjoy it or to learn something about cartography.
Here at Travel Between The Pages International HQ we have been toiling away in the garden finally attending to the weeds and spring planting. Handling so much dirt brought to mind this poem by Sharon Olds:
“Ode to Dirt
Dear dirt, I am sorry I slighted you,
I thought that you were only the background
for the leading characters—the plants
and animals and human animals.
It’s as if I had loved only the stars
and not the sky which gave them space
in which to shine. Subtle, various,
sensitive, you are the skin of our terrain,
you’re our democracy. When I understood
I had never honored you as a living
equal, I was ashamed of myself,
as if I had not recognized
a character who looked so different from me,
but now I can see us all, made of the
same basic materials—
cousins of that first exploding from nothing—
in our intricate equation together. O dirt,
help us find ways to serve your life,
you who have brought us forth, and fed us,
and who at the end will take us in
and rotate with us, and wobble, and orbit.
If you have every been to Scotland, you probably noticed that Sir Walter Scott is kind of a big deal there. In honor of the writer’s 250th anniversary this year Scotland is putting on a big celebration of its favorite storyteller. It officially kicked off with a spectacular light show at Smailholm Tower (above), created by artist and director Andy McGregor and organized by Scott’s house museum, Abbotsford. You catch watch it at the tail end of the 30-minute video below.
There are more exhibitions and events coming up, if you happen to be lucky enough to find yourself in Scotland this summer or fall. Below are some highlights, and a full list is here.
Inspiring Walter Scott: An exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland shows how Scott used historical objects as inspiration. August 6, 2021 to January 9, 2022
Scott’s Day: Music, dancing, storytelling, sword fighting, equestrian displays, and more at Scott’s home at Abbotsford on his 250th birthday, August 15.
Scott and the History of Children’s Literature: This illustrated talk from Museums and Galleries Edinburgh will delve into the archives to uncover some hidden gems and rarities from the histories of Scottish, British, and European children’s literature. Free, booking required. Online at 2 p.m. local time, August 17, 2021.
Scott in the HES Archives: An exhibition of drawings, photographs, and sketches from the Historic Environment Scotland Archives explores buildings and monuments associated with Scott. Opens October 4, 2021.
Scottish Storytelling Festival: The Scottish International Storytelling Festival will celebrate Walter Scott 250 with a selection of live storytelling events, October 15-31, 2021.
From the Baskets of Travelling Pedlars’ to Abbotsford: Scott’s Lifelong Love of Popular Print: Scott’s library at Abbotsford contains around 3000 popular print items, on topics such as fairy-tales, superstition, politics and song. This online exhibition showcases this material and its significance for Scott’s work, from November 1, 2021-October 31, 2022.
Those of you who stop by TBTP on a regular basis know that I am inordinately interested in clever travel and tourism promotional campaigns. So of course I fell for this new video from Tourism New Zealand (below). While New Zealand and Australia wisely closed themselves off from the rest of the world, back in April they announced plans for a ‘Trans-Tasman bubble’ between the two countries. The very amusing new campaign is designed to encourage Australians who have been dreaming of traveling to New Zealand.
‘Stop Dreaming about New Zealand and Go’ stars ‘an Australian friend’ longing to visit New Zealand as he slumbers. Unexpectedly, a Kiwi dream buddy shows up, who gently whispers ‘Kia Ora’ (a Maori greeting) to ‘wake up’ the dreamer, before they embark on a dream trip to New Zealand.
Zooming around a variety of popular tourist destinations the traveler is transported on a dream holiday. Granted a ‘dream beard’, the sleeper sits and eats fresh crayfish in a room full of versions of himself alongside New Zealander Di, who is with another Australian on their crayfish dream.
Suddenly the dreamer is pedaling through vineyards, before speedboating through a spectacular landscape that turns out to be a hot tub that the men relax in, placed next to a giant ‘dream kiwi’.
“‘Stop Dreaming about New Zealand and Go’ aims to spark the emotional longing in Australians to experience a unique and meaningful New Zealand holiday,” explains Declan Malone, marketing lead for Australia for Tourism New Zealand.
“We know travelling overseas is one of the most missed activities for Australians, who previously made up 40% of international arrivals to New Zealand. We wanted to remind our friends over in Australia that New Zealand’s beautiful landscapes, wide-open spaces and welcoming people are only a short flight away.”
José Alberto Gutiérrez is a former trash collector from Bogotá, Colombia, who spent over 20 years collecting books discarded by residents during his night shifts. Gutiérrez together with his family created a home library called ‘La Fuerza de las Palabras’ which translates to ‘The Strength of Words’. When city residents heard the sanitation worker’s initiative, they began donating books directly to Gutiérrez’s home library. Eventually, Gutiérrez and his family raised enough funding to also start a bookmobile service, as well.
Over the last 20 years, Gutiérrez, who is called a “lord of the books” by his neighbors, collected over 20,000 titles. He amassed such a large collection that they started to donate the books to other neighborhoods of Bogotá and rural areas across Colombia. The books also go to demobilized FARC fighters and help them with resocialization and preparing for new jobs. Additionally, part of the collection was donated to the indigenous community of Huitotacueimaní in the south of Colombia.
The now retired book lover himself even became the protagonist of a children’s book — Digging for Words: José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built.
When I visit Reykjavik, Iceland, I often walk by the main municipal library on my way to my favorite little ramen joint just up the street, but I’ve never been inside. So, I was intrigued by this wonderful short documentary about the library and its staff. The charming film was made by Jiaqian Chen on the day the facility re-opened after a Covid-19 lockdown. The interviews are in English with some Chinese narration.
Tar and Feathers, is a disturbing novel in which the Ku Klux Klan, its principles and activities figure prominently. Based on real experiences, it was written by Victor Rubin and published in 1924 by Universal Press, Chicago.
From the jacket flap: “Out of the World War emerge four men who form the principal characters, the three friends – a Jew, a Catholic, a Protestant – and the Negro. How they meet the blind forces of injustice is vividly set forth and the problem that Hamilton solves in Tar and Feathers is the same problem that every other white, native born Protestant must answer for himself sooner or later. The book throws a clear, bright light on the place in American society of the Jew, the Catholic, the Negro and the Foreigner and for that reason it is perhaps not always pleasant reading, for some.”
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